Bob Mount: Kingdom of the ants, water bugs and gnats

Dr. Lawrence Graham is Auburn University’s fire ant expert. One of his projects has been an introduction of a parasitic fly whose host is the fire ant. The fly deposits an egg on the ant’s back, it hatches, the larva penetrates the ant, makes its way to the ant’s head and the head falls off.

About five years ago Graham told me he had established a population near Notasulga. “You may have some at your place,” he said. “Kick an ant mound, mash some ants, and look closely. If present, the flies can be seen hovering over the mound.”

That afternoon, I went home and looked for an ant mound to kick but couldn’t find a single one, and I still can’t. I’ve never used pesticides. I do, however, have many Argentine ants, but they don’t cause any problems. Graham said it is highly unlikely the flies eliminated the fire ants, but said that competition with Argentines may play a role in the apparent eradication of the objectionable species.

On the subject of insects, quite a few species that once were abundant are now scarce or absent. Among them are green June bugs and several species of brown June bugs. Another member of the scarab family, the common tumblebug, no longer exists in much, if not all, of Alabama.

Other species in an apparent state of decline are several butterflies, notable among which are zebra swallowtails and buckeye butterflies. I can’t remember the last time I saw one of the latter. I regret the decline in many of our insects, but I don’t miss two species, German and brown-banded cockroaches.

Often called “water bugs,” these little buggers were hard to get rid of. The only roach I have a problem with is the large smoky brown cockroach. It’s remarkably adept at avoiding my attempts to kill it using a fly swatter, so I poof a light dusting of Roach Proof or Roach Away in its hiding places. If I see the roach again, it’s lying flat on its back, deader than a door nail. The active ingredient of these products is boric acid, which is perfectly harmless to humans and other vertebrate animals. When ingested by a roach, it’s toxic. It gains entrance into the roach when the roach cleans its feet after walking on the treated surface.

A while back, I mentioned that in Alabama love bugs were no longer confined to a narrow area in southern Baldwin and Mobile counties, as they were during the 1950s, but have since begun spreading northward.

A few years ago I encountered a swarm in southern Barbour County, and I was informed by a competent observer that the insects now occur in the southern portions of Montgomery and Lowndes counties. The late George Folkerts told me he had captured a love bug in Auburn.

Geezer Dr. Dan Speake informs me that the “gnat line,” the biographical feature below which eye gnats, Hippelates pusio, are exceedingly abundant and aggravating, is moving northward.

Let’s hope and pray it stops before reaching Lee County.

Bob Mount is emeritus professor of zoology and entomology at Auburn University and writes a weekly column for the Opelika-Auburn News.