New weapon against fire ants turns them into 'headless zombies'


	New weapon against fire ants turns them into 'headless zombies'

tabsey

5-15-2009 9:34 AM

802 views

tags:

texan, zombies

tabsey says:

Hope it doesn't attack humans. The prospect of Texans becoming zombies is weird.

5 Comments |

Add a Comment

5-15-2009 4:04 PM

tanyamm

Zombies will attack anything that moves and breathes.

5-15-2009 5:02 PM

bignosemousie

That's all we need is a zombie problem.

5-16-2009 1:40 AM

jmatts78

Well, I'm prepared... are you?

5-16-2009 3:22 AM

tabsey

5-16-2009 11:14 AM

bignosemousie

How to prepare for a zombie attack.

Zombie attack defense station.

The Zombie Survival Guide.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/61827424-0a59-4a02-93de-a44102d3e5e2/071C10A8-F5DD-4BD0-A8AB-411D5A612EC2/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html" href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.brisbanetimes.com.au</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.brisbanetimes.com.au/img/A66516E4-EF01-49EA-B225-12AFC3115274" alt="The zombies are coming ... a queen red fire ant." /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html"><P>The zombies are coming ... a queen red fire ant. <EM>Photo: Reuters</EM></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html"><P>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. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html"><P>The biting, territorial fire ants cost the Texas economy about $US1 billion ($A1.31 billion) annually by damaging electrical equipment, according to a Texas A&M study. They can also threaten young calves. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html"><P>But now the researchers are trying a tiny phorid fly, native to a region of South America where the fire ants originated. Researchers have learned that fire ants in their home region are kept under control by as many as 23 phorid species. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html"><P>The flies lay eggs on the fire ants, and the eggs hatch into maggots inside the ant and eat away at the pest's tiny brain. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html"><P>The ant will get up and wander for about two weeks while the maggot feeds, said Rob Plowes, a research associate at the University of Texas at Austin. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/new-weapon-against-fire-ants-turns-them-into-headless-zombies-20090514-b3kz.html">"There is no brain left in the ant,</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/071C10A8-F5DD-4BD0-A8AB-411D5A612EC2/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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