Fire ants perpetually rebuild sinking towers

Fire ants perpetually rebuild sinking towers

In the aftermath of a flood, fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, cluster into temporary encampments. The encampments can contain hundreds of thousands of ants and reach over 30 ants high. How do ants build such tall structures without being crushed? In this combined experimental and theoretical study, we investigate the shape and rate of construction of ant towers around a central support. The tower...

Adverse reactions to ants other than imported fire ants.

OBJECTIVE To identify ants other than Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis richteri reported to cause adverse reactions in humans. DATA SOURCES We conducted a literature review to identify reports of medical reactions to ants other than S. invicta and S. richteri. Our review of medical and entomological literature on stinging ants was generated from MEDLINE and FORMIS, respectively, using the ke...

Biochemical Evidence for Hybridization in Fire Ants

Red imported fire ants in Hong Kong.

The recent discovery of Solenopsis invicta Buren, also known as the red imported fire ant (RIFA), in the Guangdong Province of China and subsequently in Hong Kong has sparked interest in this unusual aspect of medical entomology among the general population. As S invicta is an imported and invasive species, local medical practitioners, government officials, and the public at large are generally...

Dispersal Polymorphisms in Invasive Fire Ants.

In the Found or Fly (FoF) hypothesis ant queens experience reproduction-dispersal tradeoffs such that queens with heavier abdomens are better at founding colonies but are worse flyers. We tested predictions of FoF in two globally invasive fire ants, Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius, 1804) and S. invicta (Buren, 1972). Colonies of these species may produce two different monogyne queen types-claust...