e.com/editorial/index.shtml@Top" border=0 align=center>
| OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
The editorials represent the opinion of the
Avalanche-Journal Editorial Board, which consists of Publisher David C. Sharp, Editor
Burle Pettit, Editorial Page Editor Joe Hughes and editorial writers Bob Horton and Joe
Friday, June 12, 1998 Last modified at 1:35 a.m. on Friday, June 12, 1998
War Against Fire Ants
THE NEWS THAT AN agency of the U.S. government is conducting biological warfare experiments - and encouragingly deadly ones at that - in seven different states should not cause any alarm.
The agency is the U.S. Agriculture Department. And the target of the biological weapon is one of the most notorious insect pests on two continents - the fire ant.
The testy red ants have inspired millions of dollars' worth of efforts to control them since they arrived in the United States from South America in the 1930s. They have also been responsible for thousands of painful bites - and even a few deaths of people who were allergic to them.
Fire ants have proven to be deadly even after they are dead themselves. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reported that an estimated 22,000 trout in the Guadalupe River died after eating fire ants that had fallen into the river and died after an airborne mating ritual.
And now, after trying numerous poisons over the years in an attempt to control them, scientists have learned that the undoing of the pesky ants may be germs.
Disease weakens fire ant queens
The pathogen that apparently controls fire ants wasdiscovered in Brazilian fire ant colonies in 1973. Since then, it has been found in fire ant colonies in Texas, Florida and Mississippi, according to the Associated Press.
It is called T. solenopsae, and it severely weakens fire ant colonies by weakening the queens. The queen ants who are infected lose weight and lay fewer eggs. Entomologist David Williams with the Agricultural Research Service in Gainesville, Fla., noted that infected queens go from laying 300 eggs a day to 30 eggs a day.
When the eggs hatch, the larva are infected with the pathogen as well. Mr. Williams said that the disease spreads on its own after five to ten colonies are infected.
The biological warfare has worked well in laboratory experiments. Now it is time to see how it works in the field. Scientists plan studies in eight southern states that will take one to two years to complete.
Anyone who has ever been bitten by fire ants knows what a painful experience it is. The prospect of reducing the millions of fire ant-infested acres in the U.S. is an appealing one.
The fire ant disease apparently does not affect other types of ants, nor does it have any effect upon plant life.
It could be a cost-effective way to control fire ants without harming the rest of the environment - and all because researchers were observant enough to notice its presence in fire ant colonies and were wise enough to investigate further.