Now that phorid flies are being released, when will they eradicate fire ants?
Unfortunately the answer is never. Imported fire ants are now permanent residents in the U.S. Eradication is possible from pesticides only temporarily and only at a local scale, but not at a regional level. However, we can hope for eradication of the pest status of the ant, assuming that we can find and successfully introduce effective biological control agents. Even assuming the best results with phorids, it could take years to reverse seven decades of spread and growth of RIFA populations. Although we expect phorids to be detrimental to populations of the RIFA, don’t overreact to the media hype about phorids and expect an overnight solution.
