Fire ant articles - Encyclopedia of Life

Biology

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Natural History:

Solenopsis geminata is the tropical fire ant. Fire ants are a group of related species, the Solenopsis geminata group, that has its center of diversity in southern South America. Solenopsis geminata is the only member of the group that occurs in Costa Rica, although it occurs in a "red form" that is more abundant in open areas and a "black form" that prefers forested areas. The environmental or genetic determinants of these forms are unknown.

Solenopsis geminata is most abundant in open sunny areas. It is common in agricultural areas and around human settlements. In the lowlands it is found not only in the open but may also penetrate into forest understory, albeit at lower density. At higher elevations it is restricted to open areas and does not extend into closed-canopy forest. There is anecdotal evidence that S. geminata occurrence in forest understory, even in mature forest habitats, is increasing, perhaps due to effects of fragmentation. Increased abundance in forest understory could be due to a greatly increased source population in the surrounding pasture areas, or to microclimate change that favors fire ant establishment in the forest understory.

Solenopsis geminata colonies are large, with tens to hundreds of thousands of workers. Nests are in the soil, usually in the form of a large exposed soil mound. Galleries extend out into the surrounding soil, surfacing at foraging zones at a distance from the nest. Most foraging is at the soil surface, but I have seen fire ants foraging several meters up on tree trunks or treefalls when there are abundant epiphytes and epiphytic soil. Workers form galleries extending from the ground up through the epiphytic soil.

Workers are generalized scavengers and they recruit rapidly to resources. Oil and protein sources, such as tuna baits, are particularly attractive. When large resources are discovered, workers often rapidly cover them with soil. I once observed S. geminata workers tending petiolar extrafloral nectaries at each leaf of a long Passiflora vine. The vine looped from the vegetation down to the ground for part of its length, and wherever a leaf petiole was touching the ground the ants had built a soil pavilion covering it.

Workers have powerful stings and are the bane of children running barefoot in the grass. If you mistakenly stand on a nest, workers will slowly cover your feet and lower legs and then all sting at once. Farmers generally despise them.

Individual colonies have large nuptial flights, with abundant males and alate queens issuing from nests. Workers swarm over the nest surface and surrounding vegetation, and they appear to be driving the males and alate queens from the nest. Nuptial flights do not seem highly syncronized among colonies and they may occur at any time of year.

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bibliographic citation: AntWeb. Version 8.45.1. California Academy of Science, online at https://www.antweb.org. Accessed 15 December 2022.

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Distribution Notes

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Australia: Queensland: S. geminata may have been eradicated from Queensland but since new infestations are to be expected, we thought it prudent to keep the species on the list.

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bibliographic citation: AntWeb. Version 8.45.1. California Academy of Science, online at https://www.antweb.org. Accessed 15 December 2022.

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Taxonomic History

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Extant: 1 valid subspecies

Atta geminata Fabricius, 1804 PDF: 423 (q.) CENTRAL AMERICA. Neotropic. AntCat AntWiki HOL

Taxonomic history

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bibliographic citation: AntWeb. Version 8.45.1. California Academy of Science, online at https://www.antweb.org. Accessed 15 December 2022.

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Distribution

provided by Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico

Tex., N. Mex., Ariz., s. Calif.; Mexico.

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bibliographic citation: Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. 1979. Prepared cooperatively by specialists on the various groups of Hymenoptera under the direction of Karl V. Krombein and Paul D. Hurd, Jr., Smithsonian Institution, and David R. Smith and B. D. Burks, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Insect Identification and Beneficial Insect Introduction Institute. Science and Education Administration, United States Department of Agriculture.

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General Ecology

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Nests are in fully exposed situations, in dry, coarse, gravelly soil, and are without a mound.

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bibliographic citation: Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. 1979. Prepared cooperatively by specialists on the various groups of Hymenoptera under the direction of Karl V. Krombein and Paul D. Hurd, Jr., Smithsonian Institution, and David R. Smith and B. D. Burks, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Insect Identification and Beneficial Insect Introduction Institute. Science and Education Administration, United States Department of Agriculture.

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Diagnostic Description

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Literature records: Cordillera, “Paraguay” (s. loc.) (Emery 1906, Forel 1906, Forel 1908b, Forel 1909).

Solenopsis geminata is native from southern North Americs to northern South America (Trager 1991); records probably refer to S. saevissima or S. macdonaghi .

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bibliographic citation: Wild, A. L., 2007, A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)., Zootaxa, pp. 1-55, vol. 1622
author: Wild, A. L.

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Diagnostic Description

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[[ worker ]]. Long. 1,6 mm. Jaune tesface et mat, appendices et gastre d'un jaune plus clair, lisses et luisants. Tete et thorax tres finement reticules. Sur le dessus de la tete qui est submat, les reticulations ont une tendance nettement longitudinale avec une " assez grosse ponctuation pilifere espacee ( M. Pharaonis est plus grossierement et plus regulierement ponctue-reticule). Une fine pilosite inclinee assez abondante sur la tete, les antennes et le gastre, plus rare ailleurs.

Tete rectangulaire, d'un cinquieme au moins plus longue que large, les cotes et le bord posterieur faiblement arques. Yeux en avant du milieu des cotes et assez convexes. Les scapes n'atteignent pas le bord posterieur (ils le depassent chez M. Pharaonis ). Articles 3 a 8 du funicule plus epais que longs, les articles 9 et 10 un peu plus longs qu'epais (beaucoup plus longs, chez M. Pharaonis ). Cretes frontales plus rapprochees que chez M. Pharaonis . Carenes de l'epistome mousses et un peu divergentes, le bord anterieur de celui-ci faiblement echancre au milieu. Mandibules striolees, de 3 dents (4?). Promesonotum d'un quart plus long que large, sans sutures dorsales et assez peu convexe. Face basale de l'epinotum un peu plus basse, droite, plane, plus longue que large, presque le double plus longue que la face declive, qui est subverticale et vers laquelle elle passe par un angle arrondi. Premier n oe ud du pedicule aussi haut que long, plus brievement petiole en avant que chez M. Pharaonis . Deuxieme article un peu plus large que le premier; devant du gastre faiblement echancre. Tres voisin de M. Pharaonis , bien que different par ses antennes, sa taille et sa sculpture.

Afrique Orientale anglaise: Bura

(Gh. Alluaud et R. Jeahnel), 1 [[ worker ]].

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bibliographic citation: Santschi, F., 1915, Nouvelles fourmis d'Afrique., Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, pp. 244-282, vol. 84
author: Santschi, F.

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Diagnostic Description

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— [[ worker ]]. [[ soldier ]] [[ queen ]]. Gabon (F. Faure) [[ worker ]]. Liberia. — Probablement importee d'Amerique sur les cotes africaines, cette espece, tres guerriere, risque fort d'avoir une grande extension en Afrique. Sur certaines Antilles, elle s'est substituee aux especes locales.

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bibliographic citation: Santschi, F., 1913, Glanure de fourmis africaines., Annales de la Societe Entomologique de Belgique, pp. 302-314, vol. 57
author: Santschi, F.

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Diagnostic Description

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- Colombo.

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bibliographic citation: Emery, C., 1893, Voyage de M. E. Simon à l'île de Ceylan (janvier - février 1892). 3e Mémoire. Formicides., Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, pp. 239-258, vol. 62
author: Emery, C.

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Diagnostic Description

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(No. 48 a a 48 m). [[ worker ]] [[ queen ]] [[ male ]]. Espece cosmopolite des tropiques.

(48). Common, especially in open places below 1500 ft. The communities are large, often ten or twelve thousand individuals, I should think. The formicary proper is commonly excavated under sod or loose soil, advantage being often taken of the shelter afforded by a large stone, or by vines, a bush, & c; it is never far below the surface. In the centre is a large irregular chamber, or several small ones connected by very short passages; this central portion may occupy a space six inches square. From it a network of tunnels extends in all directions, but always near the surface; connected with these there may be other small chambers for larvae, food, & c. The longer tunnels may extend for many yards, commonly ending under stones, where other chambers are constructed; and to these distant parts of the formicarium the larvae are often carried. No matter how large the community is, there appears to be but one gravid female, though several winged females may be found. These ants are very pugnacious, especially when their central nest is disturbed. The sting is unpleasant, but not very painful. The largest-headed workers are. few in number, and keep to the inner passages of the formicarium. The other workers are frequently found about houses, on foliage, flowers, & c, and prowling over the ground in open places. They seem to live principally, if not entirely, on vegetable matter; they are especially fond of sweet substances. I have found considerable quantities of grass-seeds stored in small chambers in their nests. In their movements the smallheaded workers are moderately active; the large-headed ones move slowly, and in a staggering way. The females are sluggish.

(48 a). Near Wallibou (leeward); seashore thickets; sandy soil. Oct, 8 th. The main nest was under a large stone.

(48 b). Fitz-Hugh Valley (leeward), 500 ft.; open place near stream. A large nest under sod and vines on a rock.

(48 d). Fitz-Hugh Valley (leeward), 500 ft. Nov. 4 th. Open place. A female found alone in a small cavity of rotten wood.

(48 e). Golden Grove (leeward), 300 ft. June. Workers found about the house.

(48 f).. Workers from various localities on the leeward side and southern end of the island, below 1500 ft.; open places. Some found at the ends of their tunnels, under stones; others on foliage, on the flowers of Croton, & c.

(48 g). Southern end of the island; Villa Estate, near the seashore; dry hill-side; at the end of a tunnel under a stone. Oct. 14 th.

(48 h). Near Palmyra Estate (leeward), 1000 ft. Nov. 4 th. Open hill-side. A formicary or end of a tunnel, partly under a stone. The ants had formed a small mound at the side of the stone, with the earth brought up. I could find no female; and probably this was not the main nest, though the ants and larvae were numerous.

(48 i). Wallilobo (leeward), near sea-level; open valley. Nov. 8 th. From extensive passages under sod and stones.

(48 j). Camden Park Estate (leeward, near Kingstown), Nov. 19 th; seashore, at the root of a tree. A large colony. The ants had passages on the tree-trunk, following the lines of crevices, and formed roughly of bits of wood-fibre.

The tunnels of these ants are made very near the surface of the ground, and are generally partly open, either because the surface has fallen in, or because the passage is not necessarily a covered one; hence these passages can easily be traced.

(48 k). Nov. 23 rd. Golden Grove (leeward), 300 ft. Many thousands appeared in the upper room of the house, near sunset, in a corner near a window. They had at least a hundred males, which they let loose near the window. It was curious to see the workers drag the males to the window, which, however, was closed - a failure of instinct. Very few workers major appeared.

I killed thousands of the ants with carbolic acid. Notwithstanding this, and the fact that the window was an effectual barrier to swarming, the ants appeared again in a few days after, in the same place, with other males.

(481). Hermitage Estate, Cumberland Valley, 1000 ft.; open place. Dec. 2 nd. At roots of plants on a rock. A large nest.

(48 m). Windward coast of Robocca. Jan. 2 nd. Dooryard, under stones. (The species is common on the windward side).

N. B. - Mons. H. H. Smith a encore rapporte plusieurs [[ queen ]] et [[ male ]] appartenant au genre Solenopsis , mais indeter- minables, parce que les [[ worker ]] correspondantes manquent.

II se peut qu'ils appartiennent a des [[ worker ]] deja decrites, et c'est un devoir de ne pas encombrer la synonymie de ce genre deja si difficile. Ces individus sont les numeros (10 h) [[ queen ]], (11 a) [[ queen ]] et [[ male ]], quatre especes de [[ male ]] pris au vol et sans numeros, enfin le No. 10 a. La [[ queen ]] et l'ouvriere du No. 10 a appartiennent a deux especes differentes, mais l'ouvriere unique, fort rapprochee de la S. Castor n'est pas assez caracteristique, ni assez bien conservee pour qu'il soit permis de la decrire.

(11). Perhaps referable to No. 9.

(11 a). Open place near sea-level; Cumberland Valley (leeward). Oct. 8 th. Flying. Copulated (about 8 a. m.).

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bibliographic citation: Forel, A., 1893, Formicides de l'Antille St. Vincent. Récoltées par Mons. H. H. Smith., Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, pp. 333-418, vol. 1893
author: Forel, A.

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Diagnostic Description

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[[ worker ]] [[ queen ]] [[ male ]]. Zent, cote Atlantique, Costa Rica (Biolley), tres grandes [[ worker ]] major; Ile de Coco (Alfaro), probablement importee.

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bibliographic citation: Forel, A., 1908, Fourmis de Costa-Rica, récoltées par M. Paul Biolley., Bulletin de la Societe Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles, pp. 35-72, vol. 44
author: Forel, A.

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Solenopsis geminata

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Solenopsis geminata or tropical fire ant is a species of fire ants, described by Fabricius in 1804, in the tribe Solenopsidini; it was originally placed in the Atta genus. This species has a pan-tropical distribution.^[1]

Distribution

Solenopsis geminata is native to Central and South America, including the Caribbean islands, but has since spread throughout the tropics by human means. It is an invasive species with a world-wide distribution even greater than that of other invasive fire ant species such as Solenopsis invicta (red imported fire ant).^[2]

Colonies and reproduction

S. geminata build their nests primarily in the soil in open, sunny areas. The nests are formed, some as craters or mounds, up to 2 feet wide and 12 inches tall with multiple entrance holes up to some 20 per nest. The number of mounds varies greatly, from 10 to 80 per acre in native habitats to up to 1000 or even 1500 mounds per acre in areas where they are introduced.^[2]

The colonies can either be monogyne, containing a single queen, or polygyne, containing many reproductive queens. They are known to hybridize with other closely related fire ant species. Queens may start a new colony following a nuptial flight. Otherwise, like other fire ants, they are known to spread by floating. Globally they can expand over long distances by jump-dispersal through human-mediated transport and invase new areas. ^[2]

Venom

The venom of S. geminata is comparable in power and dangerousness to the one of Solenopsis invicta, and can cause severe allergic reactions capable of threatening human survival.^[3]

Subspecies

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility^[1] includes:

Solenopsis geminata subsp. geminata (Fabricius, 1804)
Solenopsis geminata subsp. micans Stitz, 1912
Solenopsis geminata subsp. rufa (Fabricius, 1804)

Reproductor
Worker
Head
Dorsal view

Worker drinking nectar

References

^ ^a ^b GBIF: Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius, 1804)
^ ^a ^b ^c Solenopsis geminata (tropical fire ant) CABI datasheet, update Dec 2019
^ Hoffmann, Benjamin D; Ducarme, Frédéric; Bradford, DanaKai; Martinez, Santiago (2023). "Spread of stinging ants to oceanic islands, and the need to raise awareness of prevention and treatment of ant stings". Emergency Medicine Australasia. doi:10.1111/1742-6723.14165. PMID 36596650. S2CID 255469772.

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Solenopsis geminata: Brief Summary

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Solenopsis geminata or tropical fire ant is a species of fire ants, described by Fabricius in 1804, in the tribe Solenopsidini; it was originally placed in the Atta genus. This species has a pan-tropical distribution.

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Fire Ant

Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius 1804)

Biology

Distribution Notes

Taxonomic History

Distribution

General Ecology

Diagnostic Description

Diagnostic Description

Diagnostic Description

Diagnostic Description

Diagnostic Description

Diagnostic Description

Solenopsis geminata

Distribution

Colonies and reproduction

Venom

Subspecies

References

Solenopsis geminata: Brief Summary