Fire ant decapitating flies

South American fire ant decapitating flies in the genus Pseudacteon (Diptera Phoridae) are potential biocontrol agents of the invasive fire ants Solenopsis invicta and S. richteri in the United States and other regions of the world due to their high host specificity and the direct and indirect damage to their host ants. Despite their importance and the fact that several flies have already been released in the US, little is known about the genetic variability and phylogenetic relationships of Pseudacteon flies parasitizing South American fire ants in the Solenopsis saevissima species-group (Sánchez-Restrepo et al. 2020)

Colaborators: Luis Calcaterra, Marcos A. Pesquero, Neil Tsutsui