Fire Ant

Fire ants are probably one of the more dangerous yet un-noticed insects there are- because they are often mistaken for normal ants. The only differences between regular ants and fire ants are their coloring and hill size. Normal ants are black in color and have relatively small hills, only about and inch or two tall. Fire ants are usually a reddish brown color and have hills that grow up to over a foot tall.



So what's so dangerous about a fire ant?

Well, let's start with the name. They must be called FIRE ANTS for a reason, right? While a normal ant will typically flee at the sight of a human, fire ants are very feisty and aggressive. They will attack you if you get too close to them, and automatically attack anyone who steps too close to their hill. A fire ant sting is far worse than a bee sting. The ants crawl up to the most annoying place, and then sting you with their razor shark pincers, leaving a stinging red welt. You can treat a fire ant bite by getting an over-the-counter cream at a local drugstore.

What fire ants eat

Fire ants are omnivores and will eat almost anything to keep alive. They typically live off of seeds, small plants, and animals that are left dead. Like other ants, they use teamwork to collect food to eat. However, instead of carrying the food, worker ants eat the food, bring it back to the nest, and then regurgitate it for all of the other ants to eat.

The nest is usually run by a queen ant, who breeds all the other ants in the population. Breeding and hatching usually takes place in the summer. If the eggs get fertilized they hatch as girls, and become worker ants or queens. If the eggs aren't fertilized, they become male ants.