What’s up with red imported fire ants?
Two species of fire ants are found in Florida. Most notorious is Solenopsis invicta Buren, the red imported fire ant (RIFA), followed by the much less common S. geminata (Fabricius), the tropical or native fire ant. Other more common U.S. members of this genus include S. xyloni McCook, the southern fire ant, S. aurea Wheeler, found in western states, and S. richteri Forel, the black imported fire ant, found in southeastern states. There are several treatment strategies available, but none of them provide permanent eradication of the fire menace.
