• Introduction
• The Problem

• Costs of the Problem
• Costs of Control
• Regulatory Considerations
• Biological Control Considerations

• Developing a Management Plan
• Bait Basics
• Individual Mound Treatments
• More Information
• Disclaimer
• Contributors
• Print this Lesson

Two species of imported fire ants were accidentally introduced into the southern United States from South America in the early 1900s. The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, and the black imported fire ant, Solenopsis richteri, interbred and produced sexually active hybrid ants in areas where they occurred together, such as in the northern portions of Mississippi and Alabama and adjoining parts of Tennessee and Georgia.

Imported fire ants build unsightly mounds that interfere with farm operations.

Imported fire ants have two colony types: the single queen or monogyne type and the multiple queen or polygyne type. Workers in ant colonies with a single egg-laying queen are very territorial and will fight with fire ants from other colonies. Worker ants in colonies with two or more egg-laying queens do not have this territorial behavior. Therefore, these polygyne fire ants occur in much higher densities because the mounds they build can be closer together. More mounds and ants mean more problems in areas infested with the polygyne colonies. The single queen colony is predominant throughout most of the southeastern United States while the multiple queen colony is predominant throughout the eastern two-thirds of Texas.