Red Imported Fire Ant

Solenopsis invicta, commonly called the fire ant or red imported fire ant, is an ant native to South America first described in 1916 and given its current species name in 1972. Accidentally introduced to Australia, New Zealand, parts of Asia and the Caribbean, Europe and the United States, it is polymorphic, with red and yellowish workers of varying shapes and sizes and entirely black males, and it dominates altered habitats ranging from rainforest and desert to roadsides and buildings, building large mounds with no visible entrance because its foraging tunnels emerge well away from the nest.