Abstract
The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) has become a serious agricultural and animal pest in the southern U.S. since its accidental introduction in the 1930s. Traditionally, this pest ant has been under chemical control with very limited success and treatments must be repeated on a regular basis. One strategy to manage the red imported fire ant, which has been tried in parts of the southern U.S., is to use biocontrol agents to reduce fire ant populations. We released decapitating phorid flies (Pseudacteon tricuspis) as a self-sustaining biocontrol agent specific to S. invicta at two sites in South Florida during the spring of 2003 (site 1) and 2005 (site 2). Establishment of fly populations was monitored by disturbing 10 fire ant mounds and inspecting the number of hovering flies for 15 min. per mound. At site 1, within 1.5 years, 30% of mounds were positive for phorid flies and total estimated fire ant mounds decreased by 94%. At site 2, the number of mounds was recorded 1 day prerelease and 2 months postrelease. Ant mound density decreased by 71.4% with 73% of the remaining ant mounds positive for flies. This study confirms the successful establishment of the decapitating phorid fly in South Florida.
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