by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Miscellaneous Invertebrates Page | Jeff's Nature Pages
Native to S. America, the Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) was accidentally introduced to the U.S. at a seaport in Alabama in the 1930s. Since then, it has spread westward to California and eastward along the gulf coast up to Maryland and is considered a major ecological pest, displacing and killing many native species of insects and other animals. |
Red Introduced Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) Craven Co., NC 27 Aug 2006 Abundant in sandy soils in the NC coastal plain, fire ants have spread westward in NC to the middle of the piedmont. I discovered them in Durham ~2000 and in Duke Forest in 2003. |
 |
Red Introduced Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) Craven Co., NC 27 Aug 2006 Fire ants are tiny (a few millimeters long), live in dome-shaped mounds, and, when disturbed, will pour out of the mound and attack ones leg by the hundreds with painful bites and stings. |
Created on ... Sep 8, 2006 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com