So let’s recap: it’s psyllids and their ant bodyguards vs. citrus growers, predators and parasites.
Still with me?
Because psyllids are so tough to get at, citrus growers decided to take out their ant accomplices instead.
By studying the ants’ behavior, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, found a weakness they could exploit.
Ants follow the easiest path from tree to tree.
They’re all about efficiency.
They turn the orchard’s irrigation pipes into mini highways.
Researchers set up sensors on the pipes that use invisible infrared beams to measure how many ants go marching through.
In the most trafficked areas, researchers spread these tiny biodegradable balls.
They’re soaked in sugar water laced with a slow-acting insecticide.
The ants slurp up the poison and bring it back to share with the colony.
This targeted technique uses just a fraction of the pesticide that spraying would.
With fewer of their bodyguards around, the psyllids are more exposed to their enemies.
The parasitoid wasp moves right on in.
And lays an egg on the psyllid’s soft underside.
That wasp egg hatches and the larva right here burrows into the psyllid, devouring it from the inside.
When the wasp is all grown up, it chews its way out, right through the top of the dead psyllid.
Glad they’re on our side, huh?
It’s a story of unlikely allies, fighting an ongoing battle, for the sweetest of rewards.
OK, remember those ferocious hoverfly maggots beating up the ants?
When they grow up, they’re some of the most athletic fliers in the insect world.
