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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Genus: Solenopsis
Species: S. invicta
Red Imported Fire Ant Distribution
RIFA is native to central South America, but has been found in many countries across the globe. The RIFA was first thought to be introduced to America between 1933 and 1945. 13 states across the southern and western United States have large populations found throughout their boarders. Studies have shown that the possible range of RIFA could reach around 35 degrees north and south of the equator. This is their range of temperature that they could tolerate. Countries receiving more than 51 centimeters of precipitation per year are shown to be able to support RIFA throughout the landscape. Countries receiving less than 51 centimeters would probably support RIFA near a permanent water source. Some native ant fauna may restrict the distribution of RIFA because they are more resistant or more aggressive. It is thought that RIFA are more abundant in the United States than in South America because of the native enemies holds RIFA in check.
Life Cycle and Colony
Fire ant worker, depending on their size, may live from 30-60 days (minor), 60-90 days (media), 90-180 days (major), and queens may live two to six years. The life cycle from egg to adult usually takes between 22 and 38 days. The three types of workers are all sterile females and
serve to perform tasks necessary to maintain the colony. After the colony is around a year old they will start to produce alates. Mating takes place during flight where soon after males die. After mating flight, many “queens” will be clustered together under shelter. The newly queens will aid each other in establishing a colony. As the colony grows, the queens will be killed off one by one until only one remains, unless it will be a multiple queen colony.
The first workers to emerge are termed "minims". Minims burrow out of the chamber and begin foraging for food to feed the queen and new larvae. The minims also begin construction of the mound. Within one month, larger workers are being produced and the mound is growing in size. By six months the colony has reached several thousand workers and the mound can be seen in a field or lawn. Some colonies may contain as many as 80,000 workers with some up to 240,000 workers. The queen is the only one producing eggs and can produce as many as 1,500 eggs per day.
Multiple Queen Colonies
A multiple queen colony is an evolution strategies that some queens are born with. Some queens carry a gene that causes them to leave the nest while others are born to stay in her own nest and reproduce alongside her mother or join a new colony.
There are advantages and disadvantages to each strategy. If there is a sparse population the queen with the “loner” genes would “win” due to creating a new colony with her genes. The other queen sharing a colony would only supply half of the colony with her genes. One of the disadvantages of the loner gene is in a dense populated area. It is harder for a single queen to get started on her own colony when all the available space and other resources are taken up. The sharing queen is able to spread at least some of her genes. Cooperation with other queens when times are tough help the survival of the colony when space and resources are limited. Single queen mounds are also different than multiple queen mounds. Single queen colonies are more competitive with other neighboring colonies. Mostly because they are fighting over resources. There are typically more colonies per acre of land with multiple queens than single queens. The queens of multiple colonies weigh less and produce fewer eggs than a single queen, but the overall number of eggs produced is higher than a single queen colony due to the presence of many queens producing eggs simultaneously.
Fire Ant Venom
The venom is produced in the poison gland which is attached to the stinger in the abdomen of the ant. The venom is 95% alkaloids which exhibits neurotoxic activity that produces both the pain and white pustule that shows up on the string area.
eggs, so the stinger is a modified egg laying structure. Male ants, wasps, and bees do not possess stingers. The stings marks will last for several days and if the skin is broken, it may become infected and require medical attention.
Piperidine alkaloid is a relative to the main chemical ingredient in black pepper. The toxin kills the cell on site creating the burning sensation. The body’s white blood cell react and accumulate at the injection site. The rest of the venom contains proteins, peptides and other small molecules that can react with hypersensitive individuals. Worker ants will bite down and attach themselves to the skin, then raise their abdomen and forcing the stinger into the skin. The ant is able to sting multiple time, and may rotate by pivoting its head. The worker ant are sterile females incapable of producing
Management
There are many ways to get rid of an ant colony, but the hard part is to kill the queen or queens. One method is mound Drenches. Large amounts of toxic liquid to ants are poured on the mound. This can be just using several gallons of hot water to insecticides mixed with water. The only problem is the queen is deep in the nest which the liquid might not reach, and the colony wouldn’t be eliminated. One of the most successful methods is using baits. A small amount of bait is placed around the mound. The ants will then forage and bring the bait into the colony to feed on. This is one of the slower methods, but has been one of the most effective because they would feed the queen the bait. The bait would take effect and the colony would be eliminated.
Citations
Porter, S. D., and W. R. Tschinkel. "Foraging in Solenopsis Invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae):
Effects of Weather and Season"; Environmental Entomology 16.3 (1987): 802-08. Web
Buttaravoli, Philip. "Fire Ant Stings." Minor Emergencies (2007): 699-702. Web
Morrison, Lloyd W., Sanford D. Porter, Eric Daniels, and Michael D. Korzukhin. "Potential
Global Range Expansion of the Invasive Fire Ant, Solenopsis Invicta"; Biological Invasions 6.2
(2004): 183-91. Web.
"Fire Ants in the U.S.A." Fire Ants in the U.S.A. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
Wen, Yuzhen, Tao Ma, Xuan Chen, and Zhitao Lia. "Essential Balm: A Strong Repellent Against Foraging and Defending Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Journal of Economic Entomology (2016): 1827-833. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.
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