Fire Ant Envenomation in Children

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 689-692
Author(s):  
Charles M. Ginsburg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Southern United States ◽  
Solenopsis Richteri ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Scant Attention

Fire ants (Solenopsis richteri and Solenopsis invicta) have received scant attention from individuals other than agriculturists, entomologists, and victims of the bite and sting. Since their original importation into Mobile, Alabama, these small, seemingly benign, creatures have slowly migrated throughout most of the southern United States. Not unexpectedly, physicians working in the southern portions of the United States have been confronted with increasingly large numbers of patients, particularly children, who have been bitten and envenomated by these insects. Information regarding the pathogenesis of fire ant bite reactions and an approach to treatment are provided.

Near Fatal Fire Ant Envenomation of a Newborn

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-624
Author(s):  
WILLUAM E. HARDWICK ◽  
JAMES A. ROYALL ◽  
BRUCE A. PETITT ◽  
SAMUEL J. TILDEN
Keyword(s):  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Port City ◽  
Southern States ◽  
South Central ◽  
Solenopsis Richteri ◽  
Central United States ◽  
Imported Fire Ants ◽  
Venom Hypersensitivity

Imported fire ants, Solenopsis richteri and Solenopsis invicta, are menacing health hazards for the 20 to 30 million people who live in the fire ant-infested regions of the southeastern and south central United States. In the early 1900s, fire ants were brought into the port city of Mobile, Alabama, on vegetation and produce from South America. Their aggressive behavior compared to native ants and the favorable climate throughout the southeast allowed extensive spread. In 1985 it was estimated that fire ants infested approximately 250 million acres in eleven southern states and Puerto Rico.1 In infested areas fire ants account for 90% of all ant populations and stings from fire ants are more frequent than stings from other hymenoptera, becoming the most common cause of insect venom hypersensitivity.

Hymenopteran Pests: Family Formicidae

2020 ◽  
pp. 317-331
Author(s):  
Patricia J. Vittum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sandy Soils ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Red Imported Fire Ant ◽  
The Many ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
Water Holding ◽  
Imported Fire Ant

This chapter explores the many species of ants, order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae, which invade turfgrass areas throughout the United States. The subfamily Formicinae includes many ants found on turf. The fire ants are by far the most important and common pest ants of turfgrass in the southeastern states. Ants are primarily troublesome in turfgrass areas because they build mounds as they form subterranean homes for their colonies. They seek out drier, well-drained sandy soils that have low water-holding capacity. The galleries they form, which damage roots, add to the desiccation of the soil, and the turf in the surrounding areas becomes thin and unsightly. Mounds of various sizes and shapes, formed according to the habits of the ant species, are often detrimental to mower blades. The chapter then looks at the red imported fire ant, the turfgrass ant, and the harvester ant.

scholarly journals Population Genetics of the Invasive Fire Ant Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the United States

2006 ◽  
Vol 99 (6) ◽  
pp. 1213-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. DeWayne Shoemaker ◽  
Christopher J. Deheer ◽  
Michael J. B. Krieger ◽  
Kenneth G. Ross
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Population Genetics ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Ant

Intra- and inter-specific variation in alarm pheromone produced by Solenopsis fire ants

2017 ◽  
Vol 108 (5) ◽  
pp. 667-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Hu ◽  
R.R. Balusu ◽  
W.-Q. Zhang ◽  
O.S. Ajayi ◽  
Y.-Y. Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Alarm Pheromone ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
Invasion Success ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Pheromone Component ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Southern United States ◽  
Specific Variation

AbstractSome fire ants of the genus Solenopsis have become invasive species in the southern United States displacing native species by competition. Although the displacement pattern seems clear, the mechanisms underlying competitive advantage remain unclear. The ability of ant workers to produce relatively larger amount of alarm pheromone may correspond to relative greater fitness among sympatric fire ant species. Here we report on quantitative intra-specific (i.e. inter-caste) and inter-specific differences of alarm pheromone component, 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (2E36DMP), for several fire ant species. The alarm pheromone component was extracted by soaking ants in hexane for 48 h and subsequently quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry at single ion monitoring mode. Solenopsis invicta workers had more 2E36DMP than male or female alates by relative weight; individual workers, however, contained significantly less pyrazine. We thus believe that alarm pheromones may serve additional roles in alates. Workers of Solenopsis richteri, S. invicta, and hybrid (S. richteri × S. invicta) had significantly more 2E36DMP than a native fire ant species, Solenopsis geminata. The hybrid fire ant had significantly less 2E36DMP than the two parent species, S. richteri and S. invicta. It seems likely that higher alarm pheromone content may have favored invasion success of exotic fire ants over native species. We discuss the potential role of inter-specific variation in pyrazine content for the relationship between the observed shifts in the spatial distributions of the three exotic fire ant species in southern United States and the displacement of native fire ant species.

scholarly journals Ecological and agricultural aspects of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

1969 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-394
Author(s):  
Juan A. Torres
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
The United States ◽  
Caste Differentiation ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Agricultural Crops ◽  
Colony Foundation ◽  
The Public

The fire ant Soleopsis invicta recently invaded Puerto Rico. Its presence has created great alarm among farmers and the public. This work reviews the ecology of this ant in the United States, Brazil and Puerto Rico in order to clarify some misconceptions. Information is provided to separate Solenopsis invicta from S. geminata. Colony foundation, caste differentiation, venom toxicity, and damage to agricultural crops and wildlife are discussed. The evidence supporting the damaging capabilities and ways to control this fire ant are examined.

scholarly journals Fire Ants (Solenopsisspp.) and Their Natural Enemies in Southern South America

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Briano ◽  
Luis Calcaterra ◽  
Laura Varone
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Biological Control ◽  
South America ◽  
Natural Enemies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Field Release

We review the fire ant research conducted by the ARS-South American Biological Control Laboratory (SABCL) since 1987 to find a complex of natural enemies in southern South America and evaluate their specificity and suitability for field release as self-sustaining biological control agents. We also include those studies conducted by the ARS-Center for Medical, Agriculture, and Veterinary Entomology in the United States with the SABCL collaboration. Ecological and biological information is reported on local fire ants and their microsporidia, nematodes, viruses, phorid flies, eucharitid wasps, strepsiptera, and parasitic ants. Their biology, abundance, distribution, detrimental effect, field persistence, specificity, and phenology are discussed. We conclude that the objectives of the ARS program in South America are being achieved and that the pioneering studies have served to encourage further investigations in the United States and other countries and advanced the implementation of biological control programs to decrease imported fire ant densities and damage. Still, several promising organisms should be further investigated for eventual field release in the near future.

DISCOVERY OF HYBRID FIRE ANT POPULATIONS IN GEORGIA AND ALABAMA

1988 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Diffie ◽  
Robert K. Vander Meer ◽  
Max H. Bass
Keyword(s):  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Gas Chromatograph ◽  
Recent Movement ◽  
Solenopsis Richteri ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta Buren

The recent movement of fire ants into previously non-infested northwest Georgia counties led to an investigation of their identity. Gas chromatograph traces of the cuticular hydrocarbon patterns of these ants showed them to be hybrids of Solenopsis invicta Buren and Solenopsis richteri Forel. This study extends the known range of the hybrid to ten Georgia counties, twenty-one Alabama counties, and five Mississippi counties.

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