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Solenopsis invicta
The bodies of fire ants, like all insects' bodies, are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, with three pairs of legs and a pair of antennae. Fire ants can be distinguished from other ants by their copper brown head and body with a darker abdomen. The worker ants are blackish to reddish, and their size varies from 2 mm to 6 mm (0.12 in to 0.24 in). These different sizes of the ants can all exist in the same nest. Solenopsis spp. ants can be identified with three body features—a pedicel with two nodes, an unarmed propodeum, and antennae with 10 segments and a two-segmented club. Many ants bite, and can cause irritation by injecting formic acid; stinging ants have a dedicated venom-injecting sting as well as mandibles.
1 Comment
As many times as I have seen Fire Ants, I've never seen the larvae. Thanks!