Fire Ants

FIRE ANTS:

KPCOFGS

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Hymenoptera

Family: Formicidae

Genus: Solenopsis (scientific name)

Species: Atta geminata (most common: Myrmica rubra, Pogonomyrmex barbatus and Solenopsis fugax)

Nº of SPECIES: 201

SIZE

Approximate size for workers: 2-3 mm

Approximate size for males: 5 mm

Approximate size for queens: 7-9 mm

LIFE SPAN & Reproduction Info:

Life Span or workers: 2-6 months

Life Span for males: (their only job is to mate with the queen at the very end of the season)

Life Span for queens: 5.83-6.77 years

The males mate with the queen at the end of the season so that this can 

WORKERS'S LIFESPAN:

Minor Workers: 30-60 days lifespan

Media Workers: 60-90 days lifespan

Major Workers: 90-180 days lifespan

EGG to ADULT: 

After the queen has laid the eggs, these can take up from 7 to 10 days to hatch, and after they have hatched, the new ants may take about 22-38 days to develop into fully grown up adults.

COLONY SIZE: can be up to a maximum of 400,000 sterile female worker ants, or from 100,000 to 500,000 ants in total.

The visible part of the colony (above ground) can be up to 61 cm in diameter (24 inch) and 18 cm in height (7 inch).

Here below is an image of a fire ant nest in Virginia, US.

STING:

If bothered, or to any intruding animal, these ants can sting repeatedly, apart from biting.

The venom of fire ants is mainly composed of oily alkaloids structurally derived from piperidine (or solenopsins) mixed with some toxic proteins.

Exposure to piperidine can cause nausea, vomiting, salivation and abdominal pain as well as headaches, dizziness and muscle weakness, fatigue depression and irritability.

It can also affect the liver and the kidneys.

The sting of a fire ant makes a little red pimple on the surface of the skin.

INTERESTING FACTS:

DIET: This ants are omnivorous, and their diet includes insects, earthworms, ticks, spiders, arthropod eggs, honeydew and other sweets. Plant sources of food include seeds. However, it is known that they eat meat, greasy and sweet materials.

LOCATION MAP:

PHOTO:

(For more information about the websites consulted in this article, see the Bibliography at the bottom of the website.)