His title is perfect: SciGuy: My prayers answered — a fire ant virus
My prayers answered — a fire ant virus
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recently identified a virus that kills red fire ants, and the agency has begun the process of finding a commercial partner to develop the virus into a pesticide.
Read the article. I hope this happens soon enough for the Horney Toads to make a recovery.
Are they horney toads or horned toads? :)
I think thechincally you’re correct, but when you grow up with them as a kid in West Texas you call them Horney Toads. You don’t know horney means anything other than ‘has horns’ at that age.
In Fort Worth here they’re known as Horned Frogs, the TCU mascot.
More information on Horned Lizards, from the Horned Lizard Conservation Society.
There IS a God!
The wife is a TCU alum… it’s Hoarnd Frawgs!
Yes, but fire ants eat ticks and fleas — the bane of a Texas dog owner’s existence. I keep a pet mound of fire ants in the back of the yard, just for that.
It must work, we don’t have them.
Hmmm. Let’s release an engineered virus into a complex ecosystem and see what happens!
Re: “Yes, but fire ants eat ticks and fleas — the bane of a Texas dog owner’s existence.”
Yes, and I hear they eat termites too.
I’m conflicted since I have dogs and the flea control they provide is nice. Unfortunately, the ants and I had a “falling out” over their attempts to invade and conquer my a/c unit which cost me $500 and a week without a/c to fix.