These tiny animals are found in the southeast that live in the mounds which is very dangerous and often attack and kill small animals like kittens. Mounds constructed in clay soils are usually symmetrical and dome shaped mounds built in sandy soils tend to be irregularly shaped. There range extends from north carolina across Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas and there is a colony in California. It can cause severe allergic reaction throats swell up and people literally suffocate and very rare. The fire ants are transported on plants that are taken from the South and planted in the North, but most fire ant stings happen to people in the southern states.

Winged males and females, each is about 1\3 inch long, during summer they leave the mound and mate in the air. The females become queens also 1\3 inch long and may fly as far as 10 miles from the parent colony. But, most queens descend to the ground within much shorter distances. Only a very small percentage of queens survive after landing. Most queens are killed by foraging ants, especially other fire ants. If a queen survives, she sheds her wings, burrows into the ground, and lays eggs to begin a new colony. In the late fall, many small colonies of fire ants will appear. Many of the colonies will not survive the winter unless the weather is mild. There are 280 species of fire ants found all over the world. One species, known as the red imported fire ant, has become an invasive species in the United States. It was introduced to the country via Brazilian cargo entering the port of Mobile, Ala around 70 years ago.

The fire ants often eat oily and greasy foods. They also feed on many other insects and, from that standpoint, could be considered beneficial. To find food, workers forage around their mound. These ants usually travel in underground tunnels that radiate from the mound. If the mound is disturbed ants swarm out and aggressively attack you. Fire ant stings very distinctive, The bites begin as little red marks that turn into white pustules or blisters, Raupp said. They go away after several days unless they become infected. To prevent fire ants, the goals of insecticide treatment are to eliminate fire ants in areas where the risk to people is high and to reduce infestations to acceptable levels.

There are two approaches to the chemical control of fire ants. An insecticide can be applied to individual mounds or it may be broadcast over a wide area infested with fire ant colonies. The main objective for mound treatment is to kill the queen, because she is the only ant in the colony capable of laying eggs. Label directions should always be followed when applying any fire ant insecticide. Mounds can be treated with a liquid drench of insecticide or insecticidal bait. So that it will be more effective the fire ants must be contact or the drench must trickle down through the mound. Ants contacted by the drench die in less than 24 hours. Drenches should be used when the risk of human contact with fire ants is high and the fire ant infestation must be eliminated immediately. High-risk areas include home lawns, school grounds, parks, and other areas frequently used by the public. The best time to control the mounds and the fire ants is during spring and fall when temperatures are between 70 and 85 F. Control with drench treatments is more difficult to achieve during very hot summer months because the ants remain deep within their mounds and are hard to reach with liquid insecticides.