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62 Comments
- FrozenPie, on 05/16/2009, -0/+23Brain-controlling fungus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8&fmt ... - bob_the_alien, on 05/17/2009, -3/+26I know it's to control the fire ant population, however doesn't releasing a new population of insects into this population just seem like not a good thing, especially mind controlling flies.
- Kuci06, on 05/16/2009, -0/+22"The egg develops into a maggot, which appears to control the ant's behavior. (...) The larva then eats the ant's brains, causes the ant's head to fall off, then finally "hatches" from the ant's hollowed-out head about 40 days later."
Holy sh*t - harpoonhank420, on 05/17/2009, -1/+18And I, for one, welcome our new brain controlling alien fly overlords
- netneutrality, on 05/17/2009, -1/+16They've thought this through right? The flies only go for fire ants, right? Right?!
- Risingashes, on 05/17/2009, -2/+17Clearly we've learnt nothing from what happened when we released cane toads to wipe out the rabbit population in Queensland.
All it takes is one effective mutation once their primary survival source is close to extinction and you've wipe out a completely different species than the one you were targeting (and so on and so forth). - po43292, on 05/17/2009, -0/+13Stop.
- hyderalamgir, on 05/16/2009, -0/+13I read the url over and over again to make sure I was reading it from the real national geographic.
I hate those bitching ants, sure, but that is whole new level of WTF! - SwiftKick34, on 05/17/2009, -1/+12The relevant question is whether we really want to allow these flies to continue evolving: It's only a matter of time before we're next.
- Couchy, on 05/17/2009, -0/+11"Besides the phorid flies, several labs are working to develop fire ant-fighting fungi and viruses—perhaps to be delivered via phorid fly eggs. "
Sounds like the X-Files plot that started right around the end of season 5 - Lightnin4000, on 05/17/2009, -0/+9If you ever get the urge to walk somewhere moist and leafy, don't do it!!
- bewareofmoose, on 05/17/2009, -1/+10Never trust zombies.
- BrogMaN, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8You're thought process is correct, but these flies aren't like fire ants or killer bees, they don't go around laying zombie-creating eggs in any animal's head they come across. Interactions like this are usually extremely specific between species. As it stated in the article, these flies dwell in the same original habitat that the fire ants came from so they have probably evolved together for quite some time. It is unlikely that these flies target any other species besides the fire ants. Also, the larvae probably wouldn't be able to control any other species nearly as well because it probably takes very specific mechanisms to control the host brain into doing what it wants. Unless they are a closely related species the only thing the larvae could probably do would be to kill the host, but since it might not be in an ideal location for the larvae to pupate it would probably just end up dying also. After millions of years of this happening, I'm sure any gene that promotes behavior that would make the adults target anything but fire ants has probably been removed from the gene pool.
- BrogMaN, on 05/17/2009, -0/+8If you guys find this surprising or crazy you should take an entomology class. Not that this isn't really interesting and cool, it's just that this is not an uncommon thing in the insect world. There's all kinds of crazy ***** insects do, personally I think gall formation is extremely fascinating.
- viper001, on 05/17/2009, -1/+6Seems a little short sighted. What are they going to do when the phorid flies start targeting other ant species, or overpopulate and start laying eggs in other living beings (like Bot flies, ugh). Humanity has never had a good track record with trying to manipulate and control nature...
- xer0five, on 05/17/2009, -0/+5Dugg for Planet Earth
- netneutrality, on 05/17/2009, -0/+5That was better than the submitted article.
- po43292, on 05/17/2009, -1/+6I'm gonna be a zombie ant for Halloween this year.
- emazur, on 05/17/2009, -0/+4"Zombie" Roaches Lose Free Will Due to Wasp Venom
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/07 ... - TheMachine1, on 05/17/2009, -0/+3My dog pisses on big fire ant mounds daring them to attack.
- andywebb95, on 05/17/2009, -0/+3http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/ph ...
Cute :) - RyomaNagare, on 05/17/2009, -0/+3Anyway they can release a specific type of lizard that eat the flies...
- Kidtuf, on 05/17/2009, -1/+4Collaborate and listen.
- ell0bo, on 05/17/2009, -2/+5Does anyone else have a feeling this won't end well?
- asgardshill, on 05/17/2009, -0/+3Phorid flies are like the Moller Skycars of the animal world. I've been hearing about them and how they're supposed to be so much screaming painful death on Imported Fire Ants for 5 years now. So unless I start seeing phorid flies for sale in Wal Mart lawn and garden real soon now, I'm going to continue to consider them the Duke Nukem Forever of pest control.
- skyfyre, on 05/17/2009, -1/+3Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?
- BrogMaN, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2True, but it will probably take quite some time (maybe a couple hundred/thousand years) for something like that to happen and presently the damage that fire ants are causing (including out competing and killing of local species) is far more severe than the risk of the fly species mutating to change it's behavior, which probably won't happen because there are plenty of fire ants now in the US.
P.S. The cane toads weren't introduced into Australia to wipe out the rabbits haha. They were introduced to combat a crop eating weevil, which failed miserably.
P.P.S. They have already tried a similar method of controlling pest insects in California that has been extremely successful. The Cottony-Cushion Scale (Icerya purchasi) is a sap-sucking insect that was introduced accidentally that can devastate many types of trees. They introduced the Psyallid wasp, a specialized predator from their native habitat, this was many years ago and so far the wasps have not diverted from their intended target and have curbed their populations to manageable levels. The scales are still around but they're below the economic threshold. - burningmanstan, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2The is cool but nothing is better than zombie caterpillars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs&NR= ... - dbpitt, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2Yay entomology!
Are you an entomology major, BrogMaN? What do you study? - lisaawesome, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2I just recently found out what galls were when I discovered a whole bunch of lumpy woody growths in my yard. I was absolutely perplexed by them and it took a decent amount of googling to figure out what the hell it was!
- govtdoesnotwork, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2I've been known to take the quart-sized beer-induced piss on them, myself. It doesn't kill them, of course, but enough whizzing can cause them to pick up and move a short distance. Another thing that doesn't kill them is 12GA shotgun birdshot, at point blank range, multiple times. The only kinetic energy weapon that's even moderately effective against a fire ant mound is a 'tatercannon firing citrus fruits, repeatedly.
- dbpitt, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2The difference between introducing a vertebrate predator like a cane toad and an insect parasite like a phorid fly is not what you think. The former is a generalist and became a problem because their potential negative impacts were ignored. We know today that vertebrates are always dangerous for use in biocontrol because they are so adaptable due to their behavior. We have also found that parasites can be so specifically adapted that they can not adapt well. We use rigorous scientific testing to separate these parasites from generalist parasites that can move to different hosts.
- WaterDragon, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2Next up:
Fire Ants are Gone!
Phorids seek new food source, turn to brains of other species.
Human Zombies Predicted.
Film at eleven. - MaxChaplin, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2Ah, life imitates B-movies. Splendid.
- timlump, on 05/17/2009, -0/+2They then can release a type of Gorilla that will eat the lizards and once winter comes round they will freeze to death.
- WaterDragon, on 05/17/2009, -0/+1Right....but only as long as there are fire ants around.
- guitarchitect, on 05/17/2009, -0/+1if you guys find that fascinating, you will find many of the other exhibits at the Museum of Jurassic Technology of interest:
http://www.mjt.org
but be aware... they aren't necessarily real.
I first read about this phenomenon in "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder" - truly fascinating! - maqikelefant, on 05/18/2009, -0/+1BRAINS...
OM NOM NOM - walrusonion, on 05/18/2009, -0/+1I for one welcome our new insect overlords.
http://www.wunderkraut.com/wp-content/uploads/2008 ... - anthropodeus, on 05/17/2009, -1/+2Hammertime, in the name of love, etc, etc.
- dbpitt, on 05/17/2009, -0/+1You are absolutely wrong, Risingashes.
We have learned much about introducing new species for biocontrol of invasive species and use rigorous scientific testing to avoid introducing a species that is likely to become invasive itself. When people introduced species like the cane toad to control pests, they were simply released with the hope that they would be effective... though this is still a problem, such as with mosquito fish introductions which is known not to be effective mosquito control and the fish harm native wildlife, they are released out of ignorance.
Most of the time today, classical bocontrol is used to introduce natural enemies of invasive species to help even the odds between invasives and native wildlife. Tests used to avoid further invasion are especially effective, though I do not have a specific citation to make that claim (so don't just take my word for it). - dbpitt, on 05/17/2009, -0/+1One test that these flies underwent before they were considered OK for introduction involved making sure that they would die without the intended host rather than attack other ant species. They passed this test, meaning the are host-specific and will not attack other ants.
...Though they did not perform the test on humans... - BrogMaN, on 05/17/2009, -0/+1Right now I'm just a Biology major because my college doesn't offer an Entomology major, but I'm definitely planning on going into the field. I already had the idea of working with insects and I just took my first Entomology class this semester which has pretty much cemented the plan.
- ahneema, on 05/17/2009, -0/+1other ants dump infected ants away from the colony.. sounds pretty smart. these ants know when their fellow is infected and they exactly know what to do. i find it hard to believe that this behavior is all hard-wired to their genes and that they always act on instinct alone.
- dbpitt, on 05/18/2009, -0/+1Good. Entomology is no place for those who fail to find beauty in nature.
- MrCocktoasten, on 05/17/2009, -1/+2I really don't see this working out for several reasons;
1) there are very few examples of animal control by introducing a natural predator,
2) considering the population size of a single ant colony (millions) it would take more than ten times that in flies to put a dent in a colony (because not all flies would mate successfully, but also due to predation, infertility, etc); we would be up in our armpits with flies...you want that???
A lot of these 'bio-control' people are entomologists first, and there is little in terms of funding (especially now) other than to try to justify the use of biological control. I've seen this at my previous university which pretty much eliminated the entomology dept with the exception of those who touted and received outside funding for such research. - udayd, on 05/17/2009, -0/+1as someone who got a degree in zoology, my opinion is that fighting an artificially introduced species with an artificially introduced species is a recipe for disaster. this is an interesting article, but would like to see if the scientists did any sort of long term research on how this will effect the local ecosystem.
- winterspan, on 05/18/2009, -0/+1"All kinds of crazy ***** insects do.."
And a lot of ***** disgusting ***** too... I would NEVER take an entomology class, and entomology majors are mentally ill - phyldar, on 05/18/2009, -0/+0And what do you do with the billion of flies you'll have after......... freakin' stupid :[
- MxM111, on 05/17/2009, -1/+1Next thing: Plants vs. Zombies!
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