Fire ants are the smallest widespread insects that harm crops. Thus, as an entomology student, you should know – what do fire ants look like.
Quick answer: fire ants are efficiently worker red or black ants with a darker reddish brown abdomen. They are smaller ants ( 2 – 5 millimeters in length) and have 2 nodes, a segmented club on antennae, and a very painful sting.
Here, you will know all the identifying features of the fire ants (both red imported and southern black fire ants) with actual pictures. I will also provide other interesting facts about fire ants in this article.
Finally, you will find the comparison table between the red and fire ants at the end of this article. So, if you love to learn the location, wings, stings, and others facts of both red imported and southern black fire ants, let’s continue this article till the end.
What do fire ants look like
The fire ants are under the Solenopsis genus, which has more than 17 species. Among these species, red imported and southern black fire ants are important.
So, you should know – what do these 2 fire ants look like? You may easily identify these 2 species of fire ants with their external appearance and their nest.
First, let’s get the overview of the appearance of red imported fire ants and also the southern black fire ants from table 1 –
| Features | Red imported fire ants | Black fire ants |
| Length (body size) | 2 – 5 millimeter | 3 – 6 millimeter |
| Head color | Reddish | Amber |
| Abdomen | Dark brown | Black |
| Hairs on body | Dark brown (smaller) | Covered with golden hair |
| Jaws | Well-developed | Moderate |
| Nodes (petiole) | 2 | 2 |
| Antennae | Segmented (10) | Segmented (10) |
| Stings | Yes | Yes |
| Mound | Have multiple opening, Found in soil, lawns, and building wall, | Small mound, Have flattened irregular craters, Found in wood, and under rocks, |
So, the external appearance and the mound of red imported and southern black fire ants are somewhat different. Thus, you may quickly identify these fire ants with their unique outer looks.
In both red imported fire ants and southern black ants, you will find the following common features externally –
- The body length of the fire ants is about 2 – 6 millimeters (average 4 millimeters),
- You will find 2 nodes (petiole) in between the junction of the fire ant’s thorax and abdomen,
- Have a red or amber head with a darker reddish or black abdomen,
- Fire ants have strong jaws and painful stings, and
- Have dark brown or golden colored hairs on the fire ant’s body,
They (both red imported and southern black fire ants) have segmented antennae (typically 10 segments) with 2 segmented apical clubs.
What are red imported fire ants?
The red imported fire ants are the smallest insects that significantly damage agricultural crops. They have painful stings compared to the other ants that can be dangerous to humans.
The workers of these ants are very small (2 – 5 millimeters) and vary in body color (reddish brown to dark brown). They possess (red imported fire ants) 3 defined segments (head, thorax, and abdomen) like an ideal insect.
Exceptionally, you will find stronger jaws (mandibles), painful stings, and 2 nodes in the red imported fire ants. Again, the antennae of the red imported fire ants are segmented.
Typically, you will find 10 – 12 segments on the antennae of the red imported fire ants. The end part of the antennae of fire ants is hooked. Here, you will find 2 segmented apical clubs on the ends of the antennae.
Where do fire ants live?
The red imported fire ants live in central South America. So, you will mainly find them in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.
You may also find these imported fire ants in Alabama, the United States of America. They were also distributed to north Tennessee and central Texas in the United States.
The artificial spread of imported fire ants is more common than the natural spread. The queens of the fire ants may transport from the nest. Again, the fire ants queen may attach to the soil and also with the plant and transport from the nest to other places.
Now a day, imported fire ants are also very commonly found in California and Florida, United States. As they (imported fire ants) are widely distributed, you may find them in other areas of the world.
These red imported fire ants build their mound in a variety of habitats. They may build their mound in the yard, parks, along the roadside, forage margin, and also near the swamps of the Southern United States of America.
Do fire ants have wings?
Yes, the red imported and southern black ants have wings. Typically, you will find 2 pairs of wings in the red or black fire ants.
But, you will find these 2 pairs of wings on their thorax only in male and young female ants. Like other ants’ older queens, you will not also find the wings in the older queen’s thorax.
Do worker-imported fire ants have wings? No, you will not find the wings in the worker-imported fire ants. You know these workers imported fire ants are sterile female ants.
The pattern and anatomical facts of the ant’s wings are somewhat different. You may find the details guide on the insect wings (ant wings) from the below-mentioned article –
- Insect wing anatomy with labeled diagram,
What do fire ant look like in Texas?
You will find mostly red imported fire ants in Texas, the United States of America. Let’s know – what do fire ant look like in Texas?
You will find the same external features in the red imported fire ants in Texas. They are typically 2 – 4 millimeters in length, and the worker possesses a red head and thorax with black, brown gaster (abdomen).
The red imported ants in Texas show 2 nodes (petiole), 10 segmented antennae, and a painful sting. They also show the smaller dark brown hair on their body.
You will find the nest (mound) of the red imported fire ants indoor and outdoors in Texas. These ants form large and dome-shaped mounds in different areas of Texas.
Different authors reported that the mound of red imported fire ants numerously found on roadsides, residential areas, and agricultural fields. Now, let’s know what the red imported fire ant’s mound is.
What does a fire ant mound look like?
The fire ant mound is somewhat different than the regular ant mound. This fire ant mound is the fluffy, raised, dome-shaped dirt area of the soil.
But, in the regular ant mound, you will see the raised area of dirt soil with a center hole. The mound of the red imported fire ants is arranged systematically.
The fire ant makes their mound with different galleries and tunnels for storing food. Even they make extra tunnels for caring for their young, meeting with other ants.
This mound may be very deep in length. The red imported fire ant mound provides a great facility to them –
- In the hot summer season – ant can move their colony down to the cooler area of the mound (lower to the ground),
- In the winter season – they move their colony up closer to the ground surface to get the rays from the sun,
You may find a small to a large colony in the mound of the red imported fire ant. Roughly, you may see 250k – 350k ants (workers, female, and young ants) in a single mound of the red imported fire ants.
When the members of the fire ant colony grow, they need more space in their nest or mound. They need to dig more and more into the soil and make more dirt on the surface of the mound.
Thus, you may see the larger mound on the earth’s ground surface. Now, they form a larger nest deep into the ground for their regular respiring, moving, walking, and caring for their young.
Economic importance of fire ant mound
Do you think fire ant mounds have any economic importance? Well, sometimes the mound of the fire ant can play an essential role in the environment. But, in most cases, fire ant mounds negatively affect the agricultural field.
In some cases, the mound of a fire ant helps to grow some of the plants and weeds in your lawn. But, when the mound occurs in agricultural land like soybean, vegetable, and other crops, they may cause huge damage.
Even the fire ant mound can cause damage to the agricultural equipment of the farmer. The ant lives in the mound on the agricultural land and can nibble the plant roots. Thus, the production of the crop will decrease for the fire ant.
Again, if there are red imported fire ants present in the cropland, they encourage living the aphid. Thus, the aphid and ants damage the crop of the agricultural land.
So, it is necessary to control the damage to the agricultural crop from the imported fire ants. You will find the full guide to controlling the imported fire ants here on insect pet.
Fire ants vs red ants
There are other different types of red ants that may show similar external features, like the fire ants. But, you may easily differentiate these red ants from the fire ants with the help of important external features like nodes, stings, jaws, and abdomen color.
“Different authors consider the red imported fire ants as the red ants.”
According to entomologists, the harvester ants are considered the beneficial competitor of red imported fire ants. So, let’s see the external differences between the red imported fire (RIFA) ants and red harvester ants from table 2 –
| Features | Red Harvester ants | Fire ants |
| Size | Larger than fire ants | Smaller |
| Color of head | Reddish | Reddish |
| Color of abdomen | Reddish | Dark brown |
| Jaws | Not strong | Strong jaws |
| Hair | Larger and visible | Smaller, not visible |
| Sting | Well-developed | Well-developed |
| Antennae | 12 segments | 10 segments |
| Petioles (nodes) | 2 | 2 |
| Nest | Outdoor | Both in outdoor and indoor |
So table 2 shows the clear difference between red harvested and red imported fire ants. The major difference between the red imported fire ants and red harvester ants found –
- In their body color (head to gaster),
- Segments on their antennae (10 and 12), and
- Visible hairs on their body (clearly visible in red harvester ants),
You will find other different ants that possess different colors in the world. I tried to enlist the different ants of various colors here on the insect pet.
Do red fire ants bite?
Yes, the red imported fire ants are very aggressive and can bite your seriously. As they have a stronger jaw and a painful sting, the fire ant easily grabs the skin of a human.
Normally, the female or worker of the red imported fire ants can bite humans and other animals. First, these fire ants grab the skin of humans or animals with their strong jaws.
They hold the skin with tight grips and jab their sting on the biting site. These fire ants usually jab their sting on the biting site several times.
And you know the sting of the red imported fire ants possess a tiny poison. So each time the red imported fire ant contacts with you and inject tiny poison in the biting site.
Again, they also inject sting when the fire ants fight with each other. They also inject sting into their prey.
What does a fire ant bite (FAB) look like?
The bite of the red imported fire ants looks like the pimple that burns and itches. In normal cases, the bite of red fire ants with their poison causes simple itching and oozing pustules.
So, in the initial stage of red fire ant biting, you may find redness, swelling, and pain. Sometimes, this biting area may turn into a wound with pus – a filled blister.
But, in rear cases, the sting of the red imported fire ants triggers an extreme allergic reaction. Suggestive management of ant bites from your doctor can relieve your pain and swell immediately.
Fire ants pictures
Now, I will provide some pictures of red imported fire ants. Here, I will try to identify the males, female workers, and queens from the red imported fire ants.
The worker red imported fire ants are more dangerous as they have stronger jaws than others (males and queens). Again, the sting is more painful in the female worker ants compared to queens and male fire ants.
You will easily understand the male, queen, and worker fire ants from the provided pictures. Let’s find more pictures of red imported fire ants from social media of insect pets.
Here, you will also find the southern fire ants and black fire ants in the picture. If you wish to know (learn) more about the southern and black fire ants, let’s see the specific articles from insect pet.
Frequently asked questions on fire ants’ external appearance
Now, I will enlist the questions on red imported fire ants that ants lovers ask. Here, I tried to enlist the most commonly asked question on fire ants (both red imported and southern fire ants) with their concise answer.
But, the information that is provided before in this article might give you a basic idea of the appearance of fire ants, their stings, and others. Okay, let’s see the frequently asked question on red imported fire ants by insect lovers –
What do fire ants look like under a microscope?
The fire ants look like a worm–shaped structure under a light microscope. You can easily observe the different structures from the head, thorax, and abdomen (gaster) of the fire ants under the light microscope clearly.
The light microscopic view of the fire ants shows the stronger jaws and segmented antennae from the head region. Again, you may easily observe the smaller dark brown hairs from the body of the red imported fire ants.
What do fire ants look like in Florida and Australia?
The fire ants that live in Florida, United State, and Australia show a smaller worm-like appearance. They are very small and combine red and dark brown colors.
Again, the important identifying features like the 10-segmented antennae with clubs, stronger stings, and well-developed jaws are also similar to the fire ants in Florida and Australia.
How can you tell if you have fire ants?
You may tell if you have fire ants with their external anatomical facts. They are specifically 2 nodded ants that possess 10 segmented antennae and visible sting.
I have already provided all the external features of the imported fire ants in this article. So, with the help of this information, you may easily identify the red imported fire ants from your area or house.
But, you may also identify the fire ants from your locality with the help of the mound’s appearance. You know the appearance of the fire ant mound looks different than these of the regular ant’s mound.
What is the difference between fire ants and red ants?
The red ants possess only the red color in their whole body, whereas the red imported fire ants have 2 combined colors. You will find comparatively stronger jaws in red imported fire ants than these of the red ants.
You will find some other differences between the fire ants and red ants in table 2. Let’s go back to table 2 and see the unique difference between fire and red ants.
Do fire ants bite or sting?
Yes, fire ants bite and also have a strong painful sting. The location of the sting of the fire ants is at the caudal end of their abdomen or gaster.
They can grab the skin of humans and animals with the help of their jaws. The fire ants can spray their poison from the sting in the biting site, which normally causes itching.
How big are fire ants?
The size of the fire ants is smaller compared to the regular ant. A fire ant shows 2 – 5 millimeters, whereas the typical ant is maybe 4 – 15 millimeters long.
But, the southern fire ant is a little larger (3 – 6 millimeters) compared to red imported fire ants.
Are fire ants dangerous?
Yes, fire ants are dangerous in 2 ways. They have a strong jaw and sting, which involves them biting humans and other animals.
The bite of a fire ant causes serious damage to the skin as they make a painful blister. Sometimes, the poison of fire ant sting may lead the allergic reaction in humans. So, fire ants seem to be very dangerous to humans.
Again, the fire ants are dangerous as they destroy agricultural equipment and crops. They cut the roots of the vegetable and plants and caused serious damage to the agricultural economy.
What to do (1) if you have red ants (RIFA) or fire ants?
As the fire and red ants are dangerous, you should care for and control them. If you find red and fire ants in your vegetable land or house, immediately you should apply soap water and take other necessary steps.
Again, if a fire or red ants bite you, immediately remove these ants from your skin, and take the proper measurement that your doctor suggests.
Do fire ants affect humans?
Yes, fire ants can affect humans. They can bite and causes a painful wound on the skin of a human.
Even they may be very dangerous for humans when the poison of fire ants causes an allergic reaction. Commonly, the bite of red imported fire ants causes pimple-like structures on the skin.
Conclusion
I hope you got the answer to your question – what do fire ants look like? The red imported fire ants look like a worm-like structure that possesses 3 segments in their body.
The fire ants possess red color on their head and thorax, whereas you will find dark brown color on their abdomen. On the other hand, the segmented antennae, stronger jaw, hairs on the body, and well-developed stings make them unique from other ants.
