Fire Ants

Locale On Property
As with other species of ants, fire ants are opportunistic foragers and often wander inside residences to find
sustenance and water. Due to the convenience of an indoor food source, fire ants may nest around the base
of a home or commercial building.

Description
Fire ants are red and black in coloration and, like all insects, they are protected by a hard exoskeleton and
have six legs. Worker ants have round heads with mandibles, an armored thorax midsection and an
abdomen, made up of the pedicle and the gaster. The head is typically copper brown in color.

Concerns
Imported fire ants inflict painful stings and can kill human beings. There are large social and medical costs
associated with this pest.
A single fire ant can sting its target repeatedly. Susceptible individuals who have suffered painful stings
caused by red imported fire ants, usually experience physical health effects such as fever, dizziness,
generalized urticaria, or other systemic reactions such as anaphylactic shock.