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Media Inquries for 2007

• New York Times inquiry:
  On February 20, Cory Reiss, Washington correspondent for The New York Times, contacted Ken Linthicum, director, ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL, about the February 16 ARS News Service item "Model Successfully Predicts Rift Valley Fever Outbreak." Reiss interviewed Linthicum for a story about the success of the model in helping predict a recent outbreak in Africa.

Media Inquries for 2006

• Anglia Television:
  On February 17, David Oi, entomologist, ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by Tessa O’Neil, a producer at Anglia Television, part of British TV production company Granada Television. O’Neil is involved in making two one-hour documentaries for the National Geographic Channel about pest infestations.

Media Inquries for 2005

• Florida Public Radio: On September 8, Sanford D. Porter, entomologist, ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by Mark Simpson, reporter/producer, WFSU, the Florida Public Radio affiliate in Tallahassee.  Simpson interviewed Porter regarding the phorid fly, a natural enemy of the imported fire ant that is being used to control the ant nonchemically.
  
  
• Hong Kong Standard newspaper
  On January 26, Robert K. Vander Meer, entomologist, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was interviewed by Dennis Hong, reporter with the Hong Kong Standard, about ARS research on imported fire ants.  These pests were recently discovered in Hong Kong, China, and officials are worried that an infestation could seriously affect their flower and ornamental tree industries.  The newspaper covers general business news.
  
  
• WFLA-TV, Tampa, FL
  On January 6, Sanford Porter and Roberto Pereira, entomologists, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, were interviewed by Jeff Patterson, reporter, WFLA-TV, an NBC affiliate, about ARS research concerning the imported fire ant's impact on people and agriculture in Florida.

Media Inquiries from 2004

• WCJB-TV, Gainesville, FL
  On December 9, Sanford Porter, entomologist, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, was contacted by a reporter from WCJB-TV, Channel 20, Gainesville, about ARS research on imported fire ants and the decapitating phorid flies. WCJB is an ABC affiliate.
  
  
• Atlanta, GA, and Dallas, TX, radio stations
  On December 3, Steven M. Valles, entomologist, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Imported Fire Ants and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by Bruce Kennedy, reporter, WABE-AM, the National Public Radio affiliate in Atlanta, GA, and a reporter from KRLD-AM in Dallas, TX, as a follow-up to the November 30 ARS News Service item, "First Virus To Infect Red Imported Fire Ants Discovered."
  
  
• Associated Press and several Florida radio stations
  On December 2, Steven M. Valles, entomologist, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by Tony Winton, Associated Press radio service; Amber Freeman, Mid-Florida Public Radio network; Joshua Johnson, The Miami Herald's National Public Radio affiliate; Kevin Morgan, Florida Farm Bureau radio network; and several other Florida radio stations for more information about an ARS-developed fire ant virus.  All were follow-ups to the November 30 ARS News Service item, "First Virus To Infect Red Imported Fire Ants Discovered."
  
  
• The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, CA
  On December 1, Steven M. Valles, entomologist, Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by Ben Spellman, environmental reporter, The Desert Sun, for more information about the November 30 ARS News Service item, "First Virus To Infect Red Imported Fire Ants Discovered."  Valles was also contacted by Jim Echols, a self-described entrepreneur interested in further development of the virus.
  
  
• Cox Newspapers
  On November 30, Jeff Nesmith, reporter, Washington, DC, bureau of Cox Newspapers, contacted the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Information Staff for further information on the November 30 ARS News Service item, "First Virus To Infect Red Imported Fire Ants Discovered."  Nesmith planned to forward the information to the Cox-owned Palm Beach Daily News, Palm Beach, FL, and The Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach, FL.  He was also referred to Steven M. Valles, entomologist, ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL.
  
  
• Gainesville (FL) Sun and Tennessee Farm Bureau radio service
  On November 30, Steven M. Valles, entomologist, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by a reporter for the Gainesville Sun and a representative of a radio program produced by the Tennessee Farm Bureau.  The contacts were stimulated by the November 30 ARS News Service item, "First Virus To Infect Red Imported Fire Ants Discovered."
  
  
• North One Television, London, England
  On August 9-10, Sanford D. Porter, entomologist, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, guided North One Television's filming of ARS fire ant research.  North One has been contracted to produce a documentary series for the Discovery Channel.
  
  
• Living Green television show
  On July 15, Mark Hostetler, host of Living Green, filmed a segment about research on imported fire ants and phorid flies conducted at the Agricultural Research Service's Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit in Gainesville, FL.  The show is produced by WUFT-TV, north-central Florida's PBS affiliate, operated by the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications.
  
  
• Steel Spyda Ltd.
  On June 7, Kay Hill, executive producer, Steel Spyda Ltd., Lakenheath, Suffolk, UK, contacted Richard Mankin, entomologist, ARS Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, to arrange for a film crew to obtain images depicting insect acoustic communication, stored product insect detection, rice weevil biology, and fire ant behavior.  Steel Spyda, a science and nature film production company, will provide video to the National Geographic Society for use in a TV series scheduled for the summer of 2005.
  
  
• Florida Sarasota Herald-Tribune
  On June 5, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune carried a story about ARS research on phorid flies, which attack fire ants and lay eggs inside them.  Eventually the eggs develop and the larvae feed inside the ant's head, eventually decapitating the ant.  On May 19, the ARS News Service reported that the flies have gained a permanent foothold in Florida as a biological control against the ants.
  
  
• The Greenville (SC) News
  On May 24, Jason Zacher, staff writer, The Greenville News, contacted the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Information Staff for information about a new species of phorid fly that has been established in a region of Florida.  Zacher was interested in when the same species might become established in South Carolina.  The fly, Pseudacteon curvatus, is the smallest of the decapitating flies and can parasitize small worker ants, the most abundant workers in an ant colony.  The fly was released by researchers in the ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit (IFAHI), Gainesville, FL.  Zacher was also referred to Sanford Porter, acting research leader, IFAHI, for answers to his questions.
  
  
• Associated Press and Louisiana State University (LSU) Ag Communication Center
  On March 24, Janet McClannaughey, Associated Press writer, and Richard Bogren, LSU Ag Communications Center, interviewed Roberto Pereira, entomologist, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, about the components and preliminary results of the ARS Areawide Suppression of Fire Ant Population in Pastures project.
  
  
• New Scientist (Aircraft Insect Curtains)
  On March 12, Will Knight, reporter, New Scientist, contacted the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Information Staff for details about high-velocity "air curtains" in passenger walkways to provide a barrier to keep problem insects from entering airplanes.  Knight was given additional information and referred to Robert K. Vander Meer, acting research leader, ARS Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Gainesville, FL.  Knight was prompted by an ARS News Service item on March 9, "Air Curtain" Blocks Unwanted Insect Pests From Airplanes.  New Scientist is a weekly science magazine that has been published in the United Kingdom since 1956.  It also publishes a U.S. edition and claims a worldwide readership of more than half a million.
  
  
• USA Today (Aircraft Insect Curtains)
  On March 9, the Money section of USA Today carried a story about an air curtain demonstration at Miami (FL) International Airport showing the effectiveness of air curtains developed by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation.  The ARS Information Staff supplied data used by writer Chris Woodyard.  Robert Vander Meer, acting research leader, ARS Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was quoted in the article.  On the same day, the ARS News Service carried an item entitled, "Air Curtain" Blocks Unwanted Insect Pests From Airplanes.
  
  
• Farm & Ranch Guide (Stored Products)
  On January 27, Andrea Johnson, assistant editor, Farm & Ranch Guide, interviewed Dennis Shuman, electrical engineer, ARS Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, about the USDA-patented, automated, stored-product insect monitoring system that has just become commercially available from OPI Systems, Inc., Calgary, Canada.  Farm & Ranch Guide is part of Lee Enterprises, Inc., Davenport, IA, which publishes 44 daily newspapers in 19 western and midwestern States. Updated information about the stored-product monitoring system is available at the ARS web site.

Media Inquiries from 2003

• South Carolina television stations (Fire Ant Biocontrol)
  On September 24, scientists David Williams and Sanford Porter, ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL, were interviewed by three local television stations during a phorid fly release conducted at Fort Jackson, a U.S. Army base in South Carolina.  Channel 10 WIS (NBC affiliate), Channel 19 WLTX (CBS affiliate), and Channel 25 (ABC affiliate) conducted interviews with the scientists, who discussed ARS' fire ant biological control program and the biology of the phorid flies that are a natural enemy of the ants.
  
  
• Biophotonics International Magazine (EGPIC Insect-Monitoring System)
  On August 7, Dennis Shuman, electrical engineer, ARS Postharvest and Bioregulation Research Laboratory, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by Gary Boas of Biophotonics International magazine. They discussed EGPIC/ Insector, a proprietary automated insect monitoring system that is about to become commercially available to the stored-grain industry. Boas' article, slated for publication in September, will focus on this unique application of infrared technology to identify insect species.
  
  
• Sensors Magazine (Stored Products)
  On July 11, Stephanie Henkel, executive editor, contacted Dennis Shuman, electrical engineer, ARS Post-Harvest and Bioregulation Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, for information about the world's first automated stored-product insect monitoring system, developed and patented by USDA through ARS research. The magazine will publish the article in its August 2003 issue.
  
  
• The Journal News, White Plains, NY (Mosquito Control)
  On July 8, Julie Alterio, reporter, The Journal News contacted the ARS Information Staff for information about ARS-developed mosquito traps. She was referred to the web sites of the ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL.
  
  
• FloridAgriculture (Fire Ant Control)
  On July 1, the monthly FloridAgriculture magazine, published by the Florida Farm Bureau, printed an article describing how researchers at the ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit and the ARS Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Gainesville, are striving to "take the bite out of insect pests."
  
  
• National Geographic Today (Fire Ant Biocontrol)
  On June 17, Steve Greenberg, a writer for the National Geographic Today web site, contacted Sanford Porter, entomologist, ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, for information regarding the successful release of phorid flies--known for decapitating fire ants--in Miami, FL.
  
  
• WESH-TV, Orlando, FL. (Mosquito Control)
  On June 5, Robert K. Vander Meer, chemist, ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by Shawn Ricker, reporter for NBC-affiliate WESH-TV, about currently available and potential new mosquito control products.
  
  
• Cottage Life of Canada (Mosquito Control)
  The May issue of the Canadian magazine Cottage Life features a story on personal protection from mosquitoes and new technologies to combat these pests. The story is based on research by Ulrich R. Bernier, chemist, ARS Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, who discovered these behavior-modifying compounds and their effective blending. The article discusses mosquito attractants and inhibitors that are released from human skin. The attractant blends can be used in mosquito traps, while the inhibitors make people "invisible" to mosquitoes.
  
  
• The Oregonian, Portland, OR (Mosquito Control)
  On May 14, Steve Woodward, a reporter with The Oregonian, contacted the ARS Information Staff for information about why mosquitoes are attracted to human beings. He was referred to Daniel Kline and Ulrich Bernier, entomologists, ARS Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, and Robert Vander Meer, entomologist, ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, also in Gainesville.
  
  
• Dave Barry Column in the Miami Herald (Fire Ant Biocontrol)
  Dave Barry's nationally syndicated column (May 4) recently featured research at the ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE), Gainesville, FL, to combat imported fire ants with a tiny parasitic wasp called the phorid fly. As Barry described it, "What happens is, the female phorid fly swoops in on a fire ant and, in less than a tenth of a second, injects an egg into the ant's midsection. When the egg hatches, the maggot crawls up inside the ant, and-here is the good part-eats the entire contents of the ant's head. This poses a serious medical problem for the ant, which, after walking around for a couple of weeks with its insides being eaten, has its head actually fall off."  Barry was so impressed by this work that he even included in his column the URL (Internet address) for the fire ant web site. Read Dave's column at the Miami Herald web site.
  
  
• KMPH radio, Fresno, CA (Mosquito Biocontrol)
  On May 2-6, additional media queries were made to the ARS Information Staff as a result of the April 24 ARS News Service story, "Newly Patented Virus Could Help Control Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes."  Hannah Hoag, Nature writer, and a reporter for Fresno, CA, radio station KMPH were provided more information and referred to James Becnel, entomologist, ARS Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Gainesville, FL.
  
  
• KSIR radio, Fort Morgan, CO (Mosquito Biocontrol)
  On May 1, the ARS Information Staff was contacted by Shae Dodson, KSIR reporter, as a result of the April 23 ARS News Service item, "Newly Patented Virus Could Help Control Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes."  Dodson requested an interview with James J. Becnel, entomologist, ARS Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Gainesville, FL.
  
  
• AP, Washington Post, Cox News Service, other media outlets (Mosquito Biocontrol)
  On April 23, the ARS News Service item, "Newly Patented Virus Could Help Control Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes," prompted contacts from Emily Gersema, AP writer; Jeff Nesmith, Cox News Service reporter; and other media. Reporters were referred to James J. Becnel, entomologist, ARS Mosquito and Fly Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, and to the ARS Office of Technology Transfer. Read Emily Gersema's column at The Nando Times web site.
  
  
• Mona Lisa Productions (Fire Ant Biocontrol)
  On March 20, Sanford Porter, entomologist, ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted for further information by Quincy Russell, photographer/filmmaker, Mona Lisa Productions, on decapitating fly biology and fire ant biocontrol. Mona Lisa Productions has been contracted by the Discovery Channel to produce a documentary film that will include ARS biocontrol research.
  
  
• KTSA Radio Interview (Fire Ant Biocontrol)
  On March 14, Sanford D. Porter, entomologist, ARS Center for Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL, conducted an interview with KTSA radio, discussing the biology of the biocontrol flies that decapitate fire ants.
  
  
• Miami Herold Interview (Fire Ant Biocontrol)
  On March 13, Sanford Porter, entomologist, ARS Center for Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL, was interviewed concerning a release in the Miami area of decapitating flies to control fire ants.
  
  
• Documentary producer requests information on imported fire ants
  On February 22, Sanford Porter, entomologist, ARS Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, was contacted by Danielle Parsons, an independent documentary producer, for information on the complex behavior and communication within red imported fire ant colonies. Parsons also asked for permission to acquire video images during a scheduled collecting trip to Argentina by Porter.
  
  
• Voice of America Interview
  On January 29, Voice of America carried a story titled Could Insects Be Used as Instruments of Biological Warfare?. The story quotes Dr. James Tumlinson, research chemist, ARS Chemistry Research Unit, Gainesville, FL, who said that wasps could be trained to detect odors such as explosives. Tumlinson's work takes advantage of the wasps' natural feeding responses. Once the wasps learn to associate a particular odor with food, the scientists can watch for those feeding behaviors.