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FIRE ANTS
Originally from S. America. Among the worstinsect pests ever to invade the U.S. Red or yellowish ants of small-to-medium size with a severe sting that burnslike fire. They normally feed on littleinsects but, with denser populations, they ate seeds and seedling plants, hurtcorn and vegetable crops, invade kitchens, onslaught newly hatched poultry and the young of ground-nesting wild b irds. Fire ants can killnewborndomestic and wild animals. Every colony is composed of a queen, winged males and females and 3 kinds of workers. A nest averages about 25,000 workers, butfar larger populations are general. Semipermanent nests are big mounds of excavated soil with openings for ventilation. Since nests may number 50-100 (or more) in a heavily infested field, cultivating becomes difficult (or impossible). Fire ants belong to the genus Solenopsis.