fire ant - insect - Britannica

Excitement About Geographic Distribution of Fire Ants

The effect of red imported fire ants in the state of Texas is estimated to be $1. 2 billion yearly. Red imported fire ants are pests of urban, farming and wildlife locations and can pose a serious health threat to plants and animals.  This Piece Covers It Well  of the Texas Imported Fire Ant Research Study and Management Task is to discover efficient methods to eliminate this invasive species as a significant economic and medical pest.

Red imported fire ants or Solenopsis invicta are medium-sized red and black colored ants that develop mounds of soft soil. Mounds are rarely bigger than 18 in diameter. In cold, dry areas such as the High Plains of Texas, mounds are usually much smaller sized and harder to identify. When interrupted, fire ants emerge aggressively, crawling up vertical surfaces, biting and stinging "all at once".

Worker fire ants vary in size from small (1/16 inch) to large (nearly inch) in length. Many native ant species have employee ants that are consistent in size and may differ in body color. Other small to medium-sized ants that construct small nests in soil often have main nest openings through which the ants enter and leave whereas fire ants mounds have no central openings.

Leafcutter ants are also much larger and have an unique built-up thick cluster of mounds at the nest's center called a "town", and have numerous entrance holes over a really large location. Some uncertainty comes from the truth that red imported fire ants vary in size (1/16 to practically 1/4 inch long see image by S.

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Porter, USDA-ARS), with the largest workers 2 or 3 times larger than the smallest. Red imported fire ants are an unique intrusive species and in many locations of Texas they have displaced other species of fire ants belonging to the state. Solenopsis geminata, the tropical fire ant, is the most common native fire ant species experienced.

However, S. geminata will have a couple of larger workers with large, square-shaped bi-lobed heads. These ants specialize in gathering and grating seeds, but construct mounds similar to red imported fire ants. What is the distinction in between single queen and several queen types of the red imported fire ant? There are 2 genetically distinct kinds or the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta: The single queen or monogyne type and the numerous queen or polygyne type.