Fire ants are a variety of stinging ants with over 285 species worldwide. They have several common names, including ginger ants, tropical fire ants and red ants.
The bodies of fire ants, like all insects' bodies, are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, with three pairs of legs and a pair of antennae. Fire ants can be distinguished from other ants by their copper brown head and body with a darker abdomen. The worker...
More
Fire ants are a variety of stinging ants with over 285 species worldwide. They have several common names, including ginger ants, tropical fire ants and red ants.
The bodies of fire ants, like all insects' bodies, are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, with three pairs of legs and a pair of antennae. Fire ants can be distinguished from other ants by their copper brown head and body with a darker abdomen. The worker ants are blackish to reddish, and their size varies from 2 mm to 6 mm (0.12 in to 0.24 in). These different sizes of the ants can all exist in the same nest.
Solenopsis spp. ants can be identified with three body features—a pedicel with two nodes, an unarmed propodeum, and antennae with 10 segments and a two-segmented club.
Many ants bite, and can cause irritation by injecting formic acid; stinging ants have a dedicated venom-injecting sting as well as mandibles.
A typical fire ant colony produces large mounds in open areas, and feeds mostly...
Less
