Alien Earthlings

RED Fire Ant

The Red Imported Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta

The Queen (Female): The egg-laying heart of the colony. A single nest can have one queen or multiple queens, and they can produce up to 800 to 3,500 eggs per day.

Reproductives (Males and Females): Mature colonies produce winged, fertile males and females. After a rainfall, they take to the air for their "mating flight." The males die shortly after mating, while the fertilized females land, shed their wings, and attempt to start new colonies.

In a red fire ant colony, all of the worker ants are sterile females. The colony consists of three main groups: the egg-laying queen (or queens), the sterile female workers (who build, forage, and protect), and the reproductive males and females (who eventually leave the colony to mate).

Sterile Workers (Females): Make up the vast majority of the colony. They range from 1/16 to 1/5 of an inch in length and handle all daily labor, including foraging, nursing the brood, expanding the tunnels, and defending the mound with their venomous stings.

The Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA, for short) is a major economic pest in the southeastern United States. It originates in lowland areas of South America, primarily Brazil and Argentina. Since its first documented interception in 1984 at a border station in California, periodic outbreaks have occurred in several counties. In the past, these outbreaks were limited to private properties amenable to rapid eradication efforts. A state-wide eradication effort began in 1999 and ended in 2003. Some localized eradication efforts are still continuing by Vector Control Districts (in the Coachella Valley and Orange County) and Agricultural Commissioner's offices (Los Angeles and San Diego counties) which have continued treatments aimed at controlling the ants. Eradication efforts by the California Department of Food and Agriculture also continue in the Central Valley.

The ant is viewed as a notorious pest, causing billions of dollars in damage annually and impacting wildlife. The ants thrive in urban areas, so their presence may deter outdoor activities. Nests can be built under structures such as pavements and foundations, which may cause structural problems, or cause them to collapse. Not only can they damage or destroy structures, but red imported fire ants also can damage equipment and infrastructure and impact business, land, and property values. In agriculture, they can damage crops and machinery, and threaten pastures. They are known to invade a wide variety of crops, and mounds built on farmland may prevent harvesting. They also pose a threat to animals and livestock, capable of inflicting serious injury or killing them, especially young, weak, or sick animals. Despite this, they may be beneficial because they consume common pest insects on crops. Common methods of controlling these ants include baiting and fumigation; other methods may be ineffective or dangerous.