Fire Ants

Fire Ants

Fire ants get their name from their very painful bites and stings. They are a special type of ant that is actually a health threat. There are small yellowish-red to black ants, all in the Genus: Solenopsis. The two most important species are the Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA), Solenopsis Invicta, and the Solenopsis xyloni. It is found in the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera, class Insecta (or Hexapoda) in the Arthropoda phylum of the Animalia kingdom. (Lindauer 660) This small insect can mean big problems for people and animals.

The habitat of the fire ant has contributed to its rapid growth in the U.S. Fire ants are from South America and entered the U.S in Mobile, Alabama, probably in soil used for ships' ballast. They were accidentally introduced around the 1930s and have been spreading ever since. (Tacking Fire Ants 1) They have spread throughout the Southeast and are distributed from Virginia to Florida, and from Georgia to California. Colonies of the RIFA may be as numerous as 30 to 100 per acre, with 80,000 to 250,000 ants per colony. The warm southern climate has helped fire ants to spread. They build mounds of soft soil. Usually the mounds are no higher than 18 inches. Their rapid growth in the U.S. is partly due to the fact that their natural enemies found in South America were not present here. It has been estimated that the fire ant population is 4-7 times higher in the U.S. than South America. (Winged 1)

The life cycle and life span of the fire ant is similar to other types of ants. After sperm is transferred to the female from the male, the male will soon die. A queen ant can live up to 7 years or more, while worker ants generally live about 5 weeks although they can survive much longer. In fire ants, the mating flights can occur in the afternoon soon after a rainy period. Mating flights can occur at any time of the year, but they are most common in spring and fall. The usual diet of fire ants are insects, spiders, earthworms and other small...