Zombie fire ants!

[Anne Neville]

Researchers find parasitic flies that eat fire ants' brains, turning them into zombies. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/13/national/a062256D48.DTL&tsp=1)

I welcome our new zombie fire ant overlords.

[Lynn Bodoni]

I am all for just about anything that will reduce the number of fire ants in this world. Especially my little region of it. Fire ants are nasty pests.

[wolfman]

Stupid insect world doing thinks backward. You are supposed to become a zombie, then go eat brains, not have your brain eaten to become a Zombie. Intellegent design my ass.

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

That article is just full of awesome.

[StGermain]

Today, fire ants. Tomorrow - the world!

StG

[Shot From Guns]

You are supposed to become a zombie, then go eat brains, not have your brain eaten to become a Zombie.

Jeff Dahmer got this one wrong, too.

[whiterabbit]

Sorry, can't resist -- "Zombie Fire Ants" would make an excellent band name.

[Anne Neville]

Sorry, can't resist -- "Zombie Fire Ants" would make an excellent band name.

Yes, it would!

That article is just full of awesome.

Awesome, but kind of creepy, too.

[Sir T-Cups]

As if I'm not scared enough of ants....

[Anne Neville]

As if I'm not scared enough of ants....

I won't be too surprised if I jump out of bed tonight and frantically brush myself off to get the ants from my dream off me. shudder...

[Shot From Guns]

I'd think people would be more afraid of the zombifying flies than the zombified ants...

[kasuo]

So after the zombie-inducing flys do their thing, what predator will be used to cut their numbers down? Is this going to be another one of those snake -> ferret -> gorilla -> freezing snow type of cycles?

[Rhythmdvl]

From the linked article:
"It's not an immediate silver-bullet impact," Plowes said.

Um, silver bullets are for werewolves, not zombies.

Actually, I think he's kind of slick for the monster movie reference.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

What kind of damage do fire ants present to "electrical equipment" as stated in the article? I can see them practically devouring a calf or something, but..."electrical devices"? What are we talking about here? Chewing up power lines?

[bouv]

Are these parasite similar to the ones that infect certain species of grasshoppers? IIRC, they infect them and control their motor control and force them to go to a source of water. It makes the grasshopper jump in the water, then burrows itself out, now fully grown, since the water is where it has to mate, or something.

[whiterabbit]

Fire ants are Evil Incarnate. I am all for anything that can zombify them because that is, simply, way cool. And anything that kills those little bastards is my new friend, even if I don't live in fire ant territory any more.

[robardin]

Aren't there documented cases that should give careful pause to importing invasive species to fight other invasive species? I'm trying to think of the examples, but I definitely have in the back of my mind that I've read of times when X was brought in as a "natural enemy" of pest Y, which then does the job of all but eliminating Y but at the cost of then becoming as big or worse a problem than Y ever was.

For example, what if it turns out these flies also zombie-and-decapitate honeybees (but were never given the chance), or easily mutate into that niche, putting the final touch on "colony collapse disorder" in the United States and crippling the country's produce farmers?

[Lynn Bodoni]

What kind of damage do fire ants present to "electrical equipment" as stated in the article? I can see them practically devouring a calf or something, but..."electrical devices"? What are we talking about here? Chewing up power lines? I believe they eat the insulation off the wires and do similar damage. No cite, just something I vaguely remember reading somewhere.

Fire ants are Evil Incarnate. I am all for anything that can zombify them because that is, simply, way cool. And anything that kills those little bastards is my new friend, even if I don't live in fire ant territory any more. Yes. Especially the Evil Incarnate bit. I do still live in fire ant territory and every year we do battle with them.

[abbeytxs]

What kind of damage do fire ants present to "electrical equipment" as stated in the article? I can see them practically devouring a calf or something, but..."electrical devices"? What are we talking about here? Chewing up power lines?

I think it is that they are attracted to electrical equipment for some reason. They build nests in the equipment and cause it to malfunction. I vaguely remember the pool builder warning me to make sure to keep the fire ants out of the pool equipment. I guess a lot of pool pumps get damaged due to fire ants.


"Fire ants frequently infest electrical equipment. They chew on insulation, can cause short circuits, and can interfere with switching mechanisms. Air conditioners, traffic signal boxes, and other devices all can be damaged. Fire ants also nest in the metal housings that surround electrical and utility equipment. They frequently move soil into these units, which can cause corrosion, electrical short circuits, and other mechanical problems. "

[Half Man Half Wit]

Researchers in Texas are trying an unusual approach to combat fire ants — deploying parasitic flies that turn the pesky and economically costly insects into zombies whose heads fall off.

[...]

About a month after the egg is laid, the ant's head falls off — and a new fly emerges ready to attack another fire ant.
Yeah, zombies would probably be a lot less trouble if their heads just fell off after the 'best before'-date, but zombie movies would be a lot more boring...

"After about a month, all the zombies' heads fell off, and everything returned to normal, just with a lot of headless corpses in the streets. The End!"

I'm developing an irrational fascination with the phrase 'head fell off'... It leads to such weird imagery. Imagine yourself, about to be debrained by some hungry shambling corpse, but then, kerplunk, his head just falls off and he drops to the ground. Or as a defense in a criminal trial -- "I didn't decapitate him, your honour, his head just kinda fell off!". Well, it's funny in my head.

[Boyo Jim]

So, if zombie inducing flies switch from ants to Texans, how long before anyone notices?

[CalMeacham]

So, if zombie inducing flies switch from ants to Texans, how long before anyone notices?


When their heads start falling off.

Texans without ten-gallon hats will be conspicuous.

[Clothahump]

What kind of damage do fire ants present to "electrical equipment" as stated in the article? I can see them practically devouring a calf or something, but..."electrical devices"? What are we talking about here? Chewing up power lines?

One of the major, major problems with fire ants is that they will nest inside telephone junction boxes, and they think the insulation on the wires is yummy beyond belief. They will also eat the insulation off of incoming power wires to houses, and that can start fires.

[Boyo Jim]

Let's see.

The flies eat the ants' brains. Then they start eating Texan's brains, which is noticed when Texans start forgetting to impose the death penalty in criminal trials.

Then they bring in cane toads to kill the flies, which ends up killing all the hound dogs who lick the toads.

Then they nuke it from orbit, because what good is Texas without hound dogs?

[Shot From Guns]

From the linked article:
"It's not an immediate silver-bullet impact," Plowes said.

Um, silver bullets are for werewolves, not zombies.

Actually, I think he's kind of slick for the monster movie reference.

I hate to be the one to rain on your parade, but "silver bullet" is a stock idiomatic expression for "something that acts as a magical weapon ; especially : one that instantly solves a long-standing problem." (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silver%20bullet) No monster-movie reference intended.

[Mr Buttons]

Aren't there documented cases that should give careful pause to importing invasive species to fight other invasive species? I'm trying to think of the examples, but I definitely have in the back of my mind that I've read of times when X was brought in as a "natural enemy" of pest Y, which then does the job of all but eliminating Y but at the cost of then becoming as big or worse a problem than Y ever was.


The case is known as Australia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species_in_Australia) :p

[Mr. Excellent]

Researchers find parasitic flies that eat fire ants' brains, turning them into zombies. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/13/national/a062256D48.DTL&tsp=1)

I welcome our new zombie fire ant overlords.

Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that Anne Neville sides with the zombies.