ARS Newslink

ARS News Service
USDA Agricultural Research Service
January 7, 2011

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A new foe for the imported fire ant:
ARS scientists are releasing the fifth species of phorid fly to control fire ant populations-and this latest recruit specifically targets tiny fire ant workers that belong to multiple-queen colonies, which are particularly problematic because they usually house two to three times the number of worker ants. (1/4) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2011/110104.htm

Let the sunshine in:
Exposing sliced carrots to UV-B, one of the three kinds of ultraviolet light in sunshine, can boost the antioxidant activity of the colorful veggie as much as three-fold, according to results of new studies by ARS food technologists. (1/5) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2011/110105.htm

Bad news for grasshoppers:
An ARS entomologist and his federal and university colleagues are testing the power of a variety of beneficial fungi as biological controls against grasshoppers and Mormon crickets, voracious pests that can eat the equivalent of their body weight daily in vegetation, leaving less grass for livestock, and also attack crops such as wheat and alfalfa. (1/6) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2011/110106.htm

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Newslink is the weekly e-mail pointer for web links to stories issued by the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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ARS News Service, Information Staff, Agricultural Research Service
5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD 20705-5128 NewsService@ars.usda.gov | www.ars.usda.gov/news Phone (301) 504-1636 | fax (301) 504-1486