Red Imported Fire Ant

Scientific name: Solenopsis invicta Buren

Synonym: Solenopsis wagneri Santschi

Common names: Red Imported Fire Ant

Native To: South America

Date of U.S. Introduction: 1930s

Images: Invasive.org and Google

Video: Fire Ants vs. Humans - BBC

Means of Introduction: Introduced accidentally in ships' ballast

Impact: Can attack and cause painful stings on humans, pets, and livestock

Current U.S. Distribution:

• National Agricultural Pest Information System - Pest Tracker - Reported Status

Quarantine:

• Domestic Quarantine Notices (scroll to view Imported Fire Ant)
• Map (Jul 2006; PDF | 2.2 MB)

Management Plans: Animals / Fire Ants

Selected Internet Resources:

• Federal Government
• State Government
• University/Academic
• International
• Organizations

Solenopsis wagneri
Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
Taxonomy

Fire Ants - Integrated Pest Management Manual
DOI. National Park Service.
Identification/Description; Impacts; Habitat; Distribution; Controls

Areawide Suppression of Fire Ants
USDA. Agricultural Research Service.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Impacts; Distribution; Controls

Fire Ants Research - TEKTRAN database
USDA. Agricultural Research Service.
Research

ARS Research Program (search for "Fire Ants")
USDA. Agricultural Research Service.
Special Note: Research projects on fire ants and information on the Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Unit of the Agricultural Research Service and Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta) (PDF | 62 KB)

Imported Fire Ant & Household Insects Research Unit (IFAHI)
USDA. ARS. Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology.
Distribution; Controls; Impacts; Special Note: FORMIS: A Master Bibliography of Ant Literature

Solenopsis invicta Article Citation Search - AGRICOLA Database
USDA. National Agricultural Library.
Research; Special Note: NAL Catalog Search (resources)

Imported Fire Ants: An Agricultural Pest and a Human Health Hazard (Apr 2006; PDF | 41 KB)
USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Identification/Description; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls

Imported Fire Ant
USDA. APHIS. Plant Protection and Quarantine.
Identification/Description; Introduction History; Impacts; Controls; Legal Aspects

Red Imported Fire Ant Program and Red Imported Fire Ant Pest Profile
California Department of Food and Agriculture. Pest Detection/Emergency Projects Branch.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution; Life Cycle; Controls

Red Imported Fire Ant Project
California Environmental Protection Agency. Pesticide Regulation.
Controls

Fire Ant Program Status
State of California. Orange County Vector Control District.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts

Red Imported Fire Ant Program
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Plant Industry Division. Plant Protection Section. Entomological Services.
Photographs; Contacts; Impacts; Distribution; Controls

Imported Fire Ant
Oregon Department of Agriculture. Plant Division. Insect Pest Prevention and Management.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution

Imported Fire Ants
Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts

Imoprted Fire Ant Quarantine (PDF | 135 KB)
Texas Department of Agriculture.
Legal Aspects

Fire Ant Suppression & Eradication
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Plant and Pest Services.
Introduction History; Impacts

Imported Fire Ants
eXtension.org.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Controls; Special Note: Educational partnership of more than 70 universities; provides local customized information (requires free registration)

Alabama Fire Ant Management Program
Alamaba University - Auburn. College of Agriculture. Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Controls

Red Imported Fire Ants
University of Arkansas. Cooperative Extension Service.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls; Legal Aspects; Special Note: Community Abatement Examples and Health Hazards Pamphlet

Red Imported Fire Ant - Featured Creatures
University of Florida. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Distribution; Controls; Special Note: References

Identifying the Little Fire Ant: A New Invasive Species on Kaua‘i (Mar 2004; PDF | 141 KB)
University of Hawaii at Manoa. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Cooperative Extension Service.

Red Imported Fire Ant Research
Louisiana State University. AgCenter Research and Extension.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Controls

Imported Fire Ants - Radcliffe's IPM World Textbook
University of Minnesota.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls

Insects: Fire Ants
Mississippi State University. Extension Service.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History

Control of the Red Imported Fire Ant, AG-486
North Carolina State University. Cooperative Extension.
Identification/Description; Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Distribution; Controls

Fire Ants
Oklahoma State University. Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Habitat; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls; Research; and Legal Aspects. Special Note: Maps of potential range expansion for the red imported fire ant in Oklahoma and the United States

Imported Fire Ants in Tennessee
University of Tennessee Extension.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Introduction History; Impacts; Distribution; Controls

Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management
Texas A&M University. Entomology.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls; Research; Legal Aspects

Red Imported Fire Ant Project
Texas Tech University. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.
Research

Behavioral and Community Interaction of Phorid Flies and Fire Ants
University of Texas - Austin. Lawrence E. Gilbert Laboratory.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls

Fire Ants
Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (Australia).
Identification/Description; Photographs; Dispersion; Controls

Solenopsis invicta (insect) - ISSG Global Invasive Species Database
World Conservation Union. Invasive Species Specialist Group.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Photographs; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Distribution; Controls

Solenopsis invicta
Discover Life.
Identification/Description; Photographs; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls

Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA) Solenopsis invicta
Hawaii Ecosystems at Risk.
Taxonomy; Identification/Description; Illustrations; Introduction History; Impacts; Life Cycle; Habitat; Distribution; Dispersion; Controls; Legal Aspects

Red Imported Fire Ant
Invasive.org.
Photographs; Special Note: Resources