Comments on: Parasitic Flies Turn Troublesome Fire Ants Into Wandering Zombies

By: Ro Ford

Ro Ford — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:00:57 +0000

Now, what do you suppose we are going to be importing in a few years to control the phorid flies? We just never seem to really learn our lessons, do we? What is the southern Pacific island that killed the cats that killed the birds and now needs to kill the rabbits? Oh, well!

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:55:55 +0000

Re: myrmecologist – yes, please do reference the undead. In our society, wacky controversy earns you way more money and attention that actual science.

By: Eliza Strickland

Eliza Strickland — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:26:09 +0000

Hi, Alex: My sincere apologies for using your ant photograph. I did find it on the National Biological Information Infrastructure site, but because I was moving quickly I didn't notice that it was your copyrighted photo (most of the images on federal gov't sites are available for free use). I'll take your photo off the blog right now.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:44:37 +0000

"Image: National Biological Information Infrastructure"? Actually, no.

By: myrmecologist

myrmecologist — Tue, 19 May 2009 06:18:42 +0000

I am puzzled by the sudden media attention to this story on phorid flies, which the item itself states has been going on for ten years. No new findings, no new levels of control, just a slight expansion of an ongoing program. The only thing new is that I bet the press release used the term “zombie.”

Note to self: when promoting my own research, reference the undead. “Vampire ants” received a similar bout of attention several years ago.