Two Bitter Enemies Reunited in West Alabama
       Auburn, March 22, 2003 --- Fire ants can cause minor harm to humans in the form of 
painful stings and occasional welts, but that’s nothing compared to what scientists are doing to 
them.
       For years, they have been working steadily to introduce the ant’s mortal enemy to fire-ant 
mounds across the Southeast.
       Sweet revenge for all those painful stings and welts?  
       Actually, no.
       Since their arrival in Mobile Bay from South America more than 70 years ago, fire ants 
have been able to operate with virtually free rein on pasturelands and landscapes throughout the 
South.  So reacquainting these ants with their natural South American predators, scientists hope, 
will eventually lead to steep reductions in fire-ant populations. 
       Though barely visible to the naked eye, phorid flies, as the fire ant’s mortal nemeses are 
commonly known, attack the ants in the goriest way imaginable – injecting their eggs in the 
bodies of ants with strikes lasting only a tenth of a second.
	Over time, the emerging larva makes its way into the fire ant’s skull and begins eating out 
the inside of the head.  Eventually, the head falls off and from it a new fly emerges – small 
wonder these tiny insects are often called “decapitating flies.”
	As each new generation emerges, the ghastly cycle of egg laying and decapitation 
begins again.
	Phorid flies were first introduced into Alabama in 1998 as part of a regional project aimed 
at controlling fire-ant populations throughout the South.  The project is the brainchild of Dr. 
Sanford Porter, a Florida-based USDA researcher who spent years studying the phorid fly in 
South America.   
       Dr. L.C. “Fudd” Graham, director of the Alabama Fire Ant Management Program, is 
working with Extension agents and Master Gardeners to introduce the flies throughout Alabama. 
	The flies already have been introduced as far north as Madison County, as far east as 
Macon County, and as far south as Baldwin County.
	Now, Graham is working with Marengo County Extension Agent Kevin Tucker to 
establish a toehold for the flies in West Alabama. The sooner the better, says Tucker, who has 
received numerous complaints, especially from pastureland owners, about problems associated 
with the ants. 
	“Pretty much everybody is spending some money now.  It’s one of those deals where the 
homeowners are trying to keep it out of the backyard barbeques to protect children.  Golf course 
and recreational fields are trying to protect their customers and reduce the wear and tear on 
equipment.”	
	Pasturelands are a particular concern in this West Alabama county, where cattle is king 
and where fire ants have found a hospital environment in prairie soils.  
       “You’ll have a loss of productivity in a hayfield and loss of yields with the grasses,” Tucker 
says.   
       “With hayfields, you’ve got expensive equipment that runs over these mounds 
repetitively.  
       “Cutters run through them – added wear.  Rakes run through – added wear.”
       “And then there are the balers – more wear.” 
       Grass doesn’t grow on fire-ant mounds. That means the more numerous the mounds, the 
less productive the pasture. Continual stinging by fire ants also impacts the cattle’s weight gain.  
In some rare cases, the consequences for younger animals can be even worse.
       “Two newborn calves actually died after repeated stinging by the ants in Chilton County 
last year – the first time I’ve ever heard of that happening in Alabama,” Graham says.
       Fierce as they are, though, phorid flies will never succeed in wiping out fire ants entirely.
       Nevertheless, scientists hope the flies will make the ants’ lives a living hell through 
constant attacks.  Mortally frightened by the flies, the worker ants will cower in their mounds, 
missing out on the day-to-day foraging necessary for survival.  And once food sources are 
depleted, fire-ant populations will begin dropping off.
       Eventually, using the flies in tandem with other control methods, Graham hopes to keep 
fire-ant populations at manageable levels.  Currently there are between 60 and 80 fire-ant 
mounds per acre in Alabama.  
       	
(Source: Dr. L.C. “Fudd” Graham, Director, Alabama Fire Ant Management Project, 334-
844-2563, and Kevin Tucker, Marengo County Extension Agent, 334-259-5959)