Background

Fire Ants

Solenopsis invicta, also known as the Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA), is an invasive species native to western Brazil. Since its introduction to the Southeastern United States through Mobile, Alabama, RIFA has destroyed millions of dollors of crops, and killed numerous unsuspecting civilians. Eradication and control programs initialized by the USDA have cost the government billions of dollars, and have yielded little to no results due to the tendancy of the North American variety to be highly aggressive to native species, but not to other colonies of S. invicta making this pest an environmental concern.

          S. invicta can easily be identified by a number of different ways. First of all fire ants only grow to be about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch long. Also it often appears as a dark reddish brown color. Another distinguishing factor is its polymorphic worker class, which unlike most ants, has three distinct worker classes that exhibit obvious size differences. This pest can also be identified by its two-segmented antennal club which is uncommon in many species of Formicidae.