fire ants zombiefied by some flies..

This topic was created in the Science & Technology forum by xxixxi on Thursday, March 6, 2014 and has 3 replies.

Back to Parasitoids Table of Contents Pseudacteon spp. (Diptera: Phoridae) by Lloyd W. Morrison, Department of Biology, Missouri State University, 901 S National Ave, Springfield, MO 65897 Phorid flies in the genus Pseudacteon are parasitoids of ants. Several ant genera serve as hosts, including Crematogaster, Lasius, Linepithema, and Solenopsis (Disney 1994). Here I focus on Pseudacteon species that parasitize Solenopsis fire ants, as this is the group on which most research has been done. Over 20 Pseudacteon species are known to parasitize Solenopsis saevissima complex fire ants in South America (Patrock et al. 2009). Similarly, more than 20 Pseudacteon species parasitize Solenopsis geminata complex fire ants from North America to northern South America (Plowes et al. 2009). None of the North or Central American Pseudacteon species parasitize the red imported fire ant, S. invicta, or the black imported fire ant, S. richteri, both accidentally introduced from South America and now major pests in the United States. Pseudacteon species from South America that parasitize S. saevissima complex ants represent classical biological control agents for imported Solenopsis fire ants in the United States. The biology and natural history of Pseudacteon phorids that parasitize Solenopsis fire ants have been summarized by Porter (1998a) and Morrison (2000a). Appearance Pseudacteon phorid flies are very small, about the size of their host ant's head. Seen under a microscope, adult Pseudacteon flies have relatively large eyes, a sort of humped back ('humpbacked' flies are one of the common names for this family) and in females, an elaborately shaped ovipositor that varies among species. In the field, they appear as minute, fuzzy specks as they hover over host ants. Habitat Pseudacteon species that parasitize Solenopsis fire ants are widely distributed in the natural range of their hosts. In tropical and subtropical areas, Pseudacteon species are active all year (Folgarait et al. 2003, Morrison and Porter 2005a, Calcaterra et al. 2008). In temperate regions, Pseudacteon adults are active in all except the winter months (Morrison et al. 1999a). Pseudacteon phorids are not known to be attracted in large numbers to anything other than host ants. Many phorids appear to be generalists, feeding on honeydew, plant sap, nectar, and

@xxixxi

13 Years1,000+ Posts

Life Cycle

Pseudacteon are solitary parasitoids. Each female Pseudacteon may produce 100 - 300 eggs (Zacaro and Porter 2003). The adult female inserts a single egg into a worker ant with a hypodermic- style ovipositor in a rapid aerial attack. The egg is inserted into the thorax region, and the larva migrates to the head capsule of the worker. There are three instars, during which time worker ants appear to behave normally until just before pupariation.

At pupariation, the tissue inside the ant's head capsule is consumed, killing the ant in the process. The ant's head usually falls off, and the mouth parts are pushed away so that the puparium is visible inside the oral cavity. The pupa completes development in the head capsule, and the adult fly emerges from the oral cavity.

Larval development takes 2-3 weeks and pupal development requires an additional 2-3 weeks, depending upon temperature and the Pseudacteon species (larger species have longer developmental times) (Porter et al. 1995b, Morrison et al. 1997). Development in Pseudacteon has been studied most thoroughly in P. litoralis (Porter et al. 1995b) and P. tricuspis (Consoli et al. 2001). Sex in most Pseudacteon species is apparently determined environmentally, with males produced from smaller workers and females produced from larger workers (Morrison and Gilbert 1998, Morrison et al. 1999b).

Female Pseudacteon are attracted to worker ants at disturbed mounds, mating flights, or foraging trails, although host location behavior varies among species (Orr et al. 1997). Introduced P. tricuspis in Florida were primarily attracted to interspecific interactions involving their hosts (Morrison and King 2004). In some Pseudacteon species, males are also attracted to host ants where Pseudacteon matings occur. In other Pseudacteon species, however, males have not been collected in the vicinity of their host ants (although females may be abundant) and mating apparently occurs elsewhere (Morrison et al. 2000).

@xxixxi

13 Years1,000+ Posts

lol please disregard the copy & paste stuff in the first(=original) post of this thread lol that was wrongly copied & pasted lol.. please look at the second post 🙂

so the brains of fire ants get eaten by the flies..just sound about zombies!

@NotYourAverageAquarius

13 Years5,000+ PostsAquarius

Hopefully they never get the bright Idea to bring bot flies here.

fire ants zombiefied by some flies..

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