Fire ants are stinging ants of the genus Solenopsis.

A typical fire ant colony produces large mounds in open areas, and feeds mostly on young plants, seeds, and sometimes crickets.

Fire ants often attack small animals and can kill them.

Unlike many other ants, which bite and then spray acid on the wound, fire ants only bite to get a grip and then sting (from the abdomen) and inject a toxic alkaloid venom (piperidine).

For humans, this is a painful sting, which leaves a sensation similar to what one feels when they get burned by fire - hence the name fire ant - and the aftereffects of the sting can be deadly to sensitive individuals..

For more information about the topic Fire ant, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Ant — Ants are one of the most successful groups of insects in the animal kingdom and are of particular interest because they are a social insect and form ...  > read more

Cricket (insect) — Crickets, family Gryllidae (also known as "true crickets"), are insects related to grasshoppers and katydids (order Orthoptera). They have somewhat ...  > read more

Hornet — Hornets are large eusocial wasps. The true hornets make up the genus Vespa, and are distinguished from other vespids by the width of the vertex (part ...  > read more

Louse — Lice (singular: louse) (order Phthiraptera) are an order of over 3,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Lice attach their eggs to their host's ...  > read more

Related Stories

Fire Ants Can Attack Humans In Homes Or Health Care Facilities (September 23, 1999) — Fire ants attack people who disturb their ant mounds, but they will also attack humans indoors. The September 21, 1999, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine carries two case reports of fire ant ...  > read more

Clemson Fire Ant Research Uses Biological Approach (December 21, 1998) — In the ongoing war to control fire ants, a new, biological approach is being tested at Clemson University. Entomologists here have introduced a naturally occurring disease into fire ant colonies as a ...  > read more

Get 'Two Steps' Ahead Of Fire Ants With Organic Control (May 12, 2004) — Red imported fire ants love wet, rainy, cool days like the ones that ushered in spring. That's why so many of their mounds have been popping up all over Texas this year. But help is only two ...  > read more

Fire Ant Killing Protozoa Found In 120 Texas Counties (May 11, 2004) — If imported fire ants dreamed – and who knows if they do or don't – then a tiny protozoa could be their worst ...  > read more

Controlling Fire Ants Area-Wide (October 16, 2007) — Progress is being made in coordinated efforts to halt the spread of imported fire ants, according to scientists studying this invasive pest that now inhabits more than 320 million acres in several ...  > read more

Search ScienceDaily

Firefighting with Fog