Nothing in Texas Stops the Fire Ants — Not Even the Flies Built to Behead Them

A fly smaller than a grain of sand injects an egg into a fire ant. The larva migrates into the head, eats it out, and the head falls off — then the larva pupates inside the empty head capsule. That's a real animal, and in May 1995 the University of Texas got permits to import four species of them from South America. Fire ants cost the United States more than $6 billion a year, according to the USDA — roughly seven times what feral hogs cost Texas. In this video you'll find out why the first releases failed completely, how the flies went on to cover more than 12 counties and 3.5 million acres of Central Texas and seven counties and 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Bend, why the lead researcher said in public that they had "failed miserably" in South Texas, why the flies parasitize only about 5% of workers and still change everything, and what is actually displacing fire ants in parts of Texas right now — because it isn't the flies. Nobody involved claims this will ever eradicate the ant. That was never the goal. Topics: fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, phorid flies, Pseudacteon, biological control, decapitating flies, Texas, UT Austin Brackenridge Field Laboratory, tawny crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva, invasive species, USDA #FireAnts #Texas #InvasiveSpecies #Insects #Science #Wildlife