Solenopsis invicta
The Red Imported Fire Ant is a small ant varying from 1/8 to 1/ 4 inch long. It is usually dark reddish brown in color and has two nodes on the petiole and a two-segmented antennal club. They are similar in appearance to many of our common house and field ants. Although the red imported fire ant is native to South America, it has become a pest in the southern United States, Australia, the Caribbean, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, and Macau, RIFAs are known to give a painful, persistently irritating sting that often leaves a pustule on the skin.
Digestive system
The diet of foraging workers consists of dead animals, including insects, earthworms, and vertebrates. Workers also collect honeydew and will forage for sweets, proteins, and fats in homes. They are sometimes attracted to piles of dirty laundry. Larvae are fed only a liquid diet until they reach the third instar. When the larvae reach the fourth instar, they are able to digest solid foods. Worker ants will bring solid food rich in protein and deposit it in a depression in front of the mouth of the larvae. The larvae will secrete digestive enzymes that break down the solid food and regurgitate it back to worker ants. The queen is fed some of the digested protein to support egg production. As long as food is plentiful, egg production is at its maximum