Four species of fire ants are native to North America. "Native" means that the species were in North America long before the activities of humans brought new organisms into the area, either deliberately or accidentally.
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| Southern fire ant. Photo courtesy of AntWeb. |
Tropical fire ant. Photo by Jim Baker, NCSU. |
Desert fire ant. Photo courtesy of AntWeb. |
Solenopsis amblychila. Photo courtesy of AntWeb. |
The native species of fire ants are:
- the southern fire ant, Solenopsis xyloni
- the tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata
- the desert fire ant, Solenopsis aurea
- Solenopsis amblychila (Taber 2000)
The two species that were accidentally introduced (imported) into North America are the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis. invicta, and the black imported fire ant, S. richteri. These two species have hybridized in parts of North America. Native fire ant species are more common in areas where red and/or black imported fire ants do not exist or are less heavily populated.
However, in California, where red imported fire ants are just becoming established, it is not uncommon to find their mounds only a few feet away from southern fire ant nests. Southern fire ants tend to occur in drier areas than red imported fire ants. When southern fire ants nest in open areas, the aboveground portion of the nest is flatter and more craterlike than those of the imported fire ants.
There are about 20 known species of Solenopsis fire ants that originally occurred only in the New World (Taber 2000). See also Texas Fire Ant Identification, An Illustrated Key. and The Common Ant Genera of Texas (search on author=Vinson). Reference cited: Taber, S.W. 2000. Fire Ants.Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX.
Related
Find more information about fire ants in eXtension's Imported Fire Ant Resource Area.
