A number of South Florida news outlets are reporting that fire ants are on the decline. Those pesky, fire-engine red-colored creatures that wreak havoc on plants, other animals, people, and valuable property and machinery, including electrical equipment, have been a problem for homeowners and business owners for years, but pest control companies are receiving fewer calls lately.

It is estimated that fire ants cause over $ 600 million in damage per year. The sharp decline has caused scientists to search for reasons why South Florida pest control companies are receiving few calls than ever before, and they will inspect areas all across the state, as well as Georgia, in search of a cause.

So far though, the number of documented fire ant mounds are down. Other studies are showing sharp drops in the number of both ants and queen ants, which would further indicate that colonies are on the decline.

Back in the 1990s, fire ants were a real problem in Florida. Nursing home patients were killed as were large animals. Children were frequently bit. Perfectly healthy people suffered dangerous and even deadly allergic reactions to these bites. Part of the problem was that fire ants are not native to Florida so there wasn’t a natural predicator to control the population.

Some suspect this changed when a specific type of fly, call phorid flies, also known as “brain-eating flies,” was introduced in Florida. This fly, native to South America, kills fire ants by decapitating them. It was a concept first studied and introduced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s agriculture research center in Gainesville, Florida. Care was made to ensure that the phorid flies wouldn’t kill ants that are native to United States, which could upset the nature, delicate balance of the ecosystem.

This same experiment was also done in Georgia, another place where fire ants are prevalent. It started around 2003 in Taliaferro County, with just two-dozen stockings worth of flies. The process involved the flies’ larvae being injected into the fire ants’ brains. The parasites eventually overtook the ants.

While cause and effect show there could very well be a relationship with the sudden drop in fire ants, a lot more testing must be done before researchers can pinpoint exactly what has caused the fire ants to die off. In the mean time, routine pest control is advised to keep homes, businesses, and large grassy areas of South Florida property free from fire ants.