The mounds of red imported fire ants can rise as high as 18 cm and have a 61 cm diameter. They favor dry fields and stay away from shady and cold areas. Since then, they have stretched and flourished all through the warm southern states.įire ants prefer warm and sunny conditions. In 1930, Solenopsis Invicta (Red imported fire ants) came accidently to the United States in a cargo shipment. While hunting for their prey, they initially capture and bite the animal and then inject alkaloid venom with their abdominal stinger into the animal’s body. Imported red fire ants have abdominal stringers which secrete alkaloid venom. These ants rely typically on plants, insects and seeds for their food. Red Fire ants can show their aggression, when provoked.
The worker ants grow to sizes ranging from 2 mm to 6 mm, and you can find most of these sizes in the same nest at a time. The color of worker ants varies from reddish to black and their size ranges from 0.08 in to 0.24 inches. The copper brown head and dark abdomen body of Fire ants gives it a distinguished from the other ants in the United States. Fire ants have a pair of antennae placed on their head and three pairs of limbs. Similar to all mature insects, the body of a mature fire ant is alienated into three parts- the abdomen, the thorax and the head. Several countries, including Australia, southern North America, southern China, Taiwan and Philippines suffer red imported fire ants as a major pest. If the sting victim encounters headache, nausea or suffocation, then he must consult a doctor immediately. This causes red bumps and pain over the human skin, though those who are allergic to these ants may experience harsh reactions. After they bite, they use their jaws to clutch the victim and then inject venom with their stringer. When the red imported fire ant bites human beings, the sensation is similar to that of being in contact with a lit match. The Colony of the red imported fire ants consists of many queen ants and several worker ants. It has been observed that the red imported fire ants move their eggs, pupae or larvae to and fro inside the galleries of the nest tunnels. The nests can be found in the moist soil area which includes riverbanks, irrigated lawns or ponds. The color of red imported fire ants may range from black to red and their length can vary from 1.6mm to 5mm. In Spain, they are called “Hormiga Fuego” or “Hormiga Colorada,” while in Portuguese they are known as “wash foot ant,” “Formiga De Fogo” and “Formiga Lava-Pé”. They are often called as RIFA (short for red imported fire ant ) by their initials. However, these red ants are actually red imported fire ants. There are the times when people of US do not know the name of an ant species, and they call them as red ants due to their color. The United States own a large number of red ant species. This is the reason why many ants in further genera are being called by their color. The light brown color of these Fire ants makes them well-known as Red ants. The Solenopsis are classified under stinging ants and also include Tropical fire ants and ginger ants.
However, in the genus of approximately 200 species of Solenopsis found around the globe, these Fire Ants are in a minority. Fire ant is a popular term for numerous ant species in the genus Solenopsis.
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