Texas Pest Update

UT Austin researcher hopes to wipe out fire ants by turning them into zombies

Fire ants just can’t catch a break. They’ve been dealing with crazy ants taking over their habitats, and now a University of Texas at Austin researcher wants to turn them into zombies — using flies.

In a story from UT alumni magazine The Alcalde, Larry Gilbert, the director of UT’s Brackenridge Field Laboratory, says he believes using the female phorid fly can help reduce the imported fire ant population.

The fly larva travels to the ant’s head where it begins to feast on the blood and muscle tissue. Oh, and the larva can control the ant while this is going on.

The female phorid has the uncanny ability to turn a fire ant into a zombie by planting an egg inside the ant’s thorax. This causes the ant to react in distress, but then it continues on to the nest or its destination.

From there, the larva travels to the ant’s head, where it begins to feast on the blood and muscle tissue. Oh, and the larva can control the ant while this is going on.

Eventually the larva will consume the entire brain and cause the ant to wander around until the larva finds a proper nesting spot.

After two to four weeks, it uses a special enzyme to separate the ant’s head from its body and continues to nest in the head as it grows. Eventually a fly will emerge from the head and continue acting as a slasher flick villain to many other ants.

Gilbert believes that these flies, which are native to South America and serve as a natural predator to imported fire ants, can be a safe and cheaper way to keep fire ants under control in the southern United States where they exist without predators. He notes that in Brazil and Argentina, where the two species coexist, fire ants are not seen as especially troublesome.

A phorid fly (right) attempts to lay its egg in a fire ant.

Zombie Ants

Photo by Vipin Baliga

A phorid fly (right) attempts to lay its egg in a fire ant.

do better, texas

New report ranks Texas among the 5 worst states for women in 2026

Woman holding a sign at a protest that states, "Women's rights are human rights"

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Texas is far from the best state for women, according to this study.

The Lone Star State has a lot of work to do to improve its livability for women after being dubbed the fourth worst state for women in 2026.

The ranking comes from WalletHub's annual study that compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on women's economic opportunities, social well-being, health care factors, and overall safety.

The five best states for women this year are Massachusetts (No. 1), District of Columbia (No. 2), Maine (No. 3), Minnesota (No. 4), and Maryland (No. 5).

Texas, on the other hand, ranked No. 48 in 2026, a one-spot drop from 2025's ranking. The three states that performed worse than Texas are Arkansas (No. 49), Oklahoma (No. 50), and Louisiana (No. 51).

Texas came in nearly dead last – 50th – in the report's "economic and social well-being" rank, which analyzed factors such as women's job security, the median earnings for female workers, the share of women living in poverty, high school graduation rates, a "friendliness toward working moms" score, and more.

The state also ranked 44th in the "women's health care and safety" ranking, which assessed the quality of women's hospitals, abortion policies and access, the female uninsured rate, the share of women who were up-to-date on cervical and breast-cancer screenings, suicide rates, the prevalence of rape victimization, the number of women murdered by men, and others.

On a national level, women make up more than half (51 percent) of the country's total population, but women disproportionally account for more than two-thirds of all minimum-wage workers nationwide, WalletHub says. They are also severely underrepresented in Congress; only 26 percent of U.S. Senate seats are held by women, and 29.4 percent in the House of Representatives.

Additionally, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found 91 percent of rape victims are women and 9 percent are men.

"Despite improvements the U.S. has made over the years, women still lag behind men when it comes to economic prospects, executive positions, and political representation," said WalletHub analyst Milvionne Chery Copeland. "On top of tackling these important issues, the best states for women also ensure that they have access to high-quality health care, receive the same educational opportunities as men, and live in safe communities."

The 10 best states for women in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Massachusetts
No. 2 – District of Columbia
No. 3 – Maine
No. 4 – Minnesota
No. 5 – Maryland
No. 6 – Vermont
No. 7 – Connecticut
No. 8 – Hawaii
No. 9 – New York
No. 10 – Oregon

women's rights wallethub texas rankings reports equality women's equality

Loading...