phorid fly fire ant


Even if the fly proves highly effecting in controlling fire ants, it should not be viewed as a “golden bullet” for killing them, she warned.
This creates intraspecific competition between the P. tricuspis females who compete with each other in trying to oviposit within the same host. Pseudacteon tricuspis (commonly referred to as a phorid fly or fire ant decapitating fly) is a parasitic phorid fly that decapitates its host, the imported Solenopsis invicta fire ant. NEW BRAUNFELS – There’s a new phorid fly in town, and this one could be even deadlier to fire ants than other species, said a Texas Cooperative Extension entomologist.
“It’s more robust and prefers the smaller-sized worker ants. P. tricuspis is not known to be attracted in large groups to anything but the host ant. [1] While other species within the Pseudacteon genus have been found to be generalists and feed on a wide range of resources, in the field the P. tricuspis fly will only feed on its host. The species has sexual dimorphism, with the females being much larger than the males.

[3], The pupae are opaque and have a pale color. [2] They have the shape of a torpedo and are injected into the thorax of the worker fire ant by the mother. Successful egg deposition only occurs around 8-35% of the time. Six fire ant mounds, located at the release site, were collected weekly for four weeks and transported to the phorid fly rearing facility at USDA-ARS, Mississippi State, MS for exposure to the flies. The genus Pseudacteon, or ant-decapitating flies, of which 110 species have been documented, is a parasitoid of ants. Sex determination is dependent on the size of the host ant that the egg is deposited within. P. tricuspis is a species of the Pseudateon genus and a member of the family Phoridae, which is commonly called scuttle flies, humped-back flies, and phorid flies. While chemical pesticides have been tested as a way of controlling the ants, the solution is not environmentally or costly sustainable.

It mainly feeds on the ant’s jaw muscles, causing “zombie-like” dangling jaws.

[7], P. tricuspis was the first species of Pseudacteon fly successfully used as a biological control agent for imported red fire ant in the US.

An initial release of about 75,000 of these flies was completed over three days – June 14, 20 and 23 – in the southeastern part of the city.

“The new species should be seen as another weapon in fight against fire ants in the state,” she said. [4] The females will have developed fully formed wings. Phorid flies also represent a new and hopeful means by which to control fire ant populations in the southern United States, where some species of fire ants were accidentally introduced in the 1930s. The tropical fire ant, opposed to the red imported fire ant, is a native fire ant in Texas, but most people don’t consider them a pest.

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