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Species
Solenopsis richteri Forel, 1909
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
The most effective anti-predator adaptation of S. richteri is its venomous sting. The poisonous compounds in its venom are very painful and have been demonstrated to be particularly deadly to termites. Also, the aggression and sheer numbers of a fire ant swarm have a large deterrant affect.
Known Predators:
- Daguerre's fire ants (Solenopsis dageurrei)
- Argentine ants (Linepithema humile)
- Thief ants (Solenopsis molesta)
- Phorid flies (Pseudacteon tricuspis)
- wasps (Orasema)
- fungal pathogens (Myrmecomyces annellisae)
- microsporidians (Vairimorpha invictae)
- red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta)
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Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Solenopsis_richteri/ |
BIFA share the complicated system of communication utilized by most ant species. They communicate primarily through pheromones, releasing them to communicate information and particularly to mark trails. The most common use of these trails is to lead the way back to a food source found by a foraging worker. BIFA scouts also commonly use trails to mark the path to competing mounds. Nearby mounds of other species will be overrun and the colony destroyed, while nearby colonies of other BIFA are often raided for larvae.
Much of BIFA communication is ritualized or instinctual. Ritualized tapping of the antennae sends signals through a substrate while antennae are also used to communicate a variety of signals. Touching certain areas (usually with forelimbs) is also used, primarily to initiate the regurgitation of food. This is probably instinctual, as human hair has been demonstrated to produce the same effect when it is used as a probe.
BIFA also have a very high pitched squeal, barely audible to the human ear, that is used as a distress call.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones ; scent marks ; vibrations
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; vibrations ; chemical
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Solenopsis_richteri/ |
Eggs hatch after after five to eight days, with the variance in time due mainly to the caste and sex of the egg. There are four larval stages, or instars, followed by the pupal and then adult stages.
After hatching, workers apply small amounts of venom to the larvae to prevent infection. Between each instar the larvae, shed their skins with the help of workers. Each brood forms a ball, held together by a sticky coating and the hairs that develop progressively with each stage.
When a larva enters the pupal stage, it is moved into storage with other pupae. The pupae are moved about the nest regularly to the nest chambers with the optimal humidity for development. During the pupal stage, tissues reorganize themselves into the adult form. Finally, the ant ecloses (emerges from the pupal skin) with the help of workers. The shed skin is eaten by nestmates. Young adults are called callows and are soft and pale, becoming darker and harder within a couple of days.
Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis
- Grzimek, B. 1972. Grzimek's Animal Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc..
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Solenopsis_richteri/ |
richteri Forel HNS 1909.
Literature records: Ñeembucú (Fowler 1981).
- Wild, A. L. (2007): A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 1622, 1-55: 37-37, URL:http://www.antbase.org/ants/publications/21367/21367.pdf
License | Public Domain |
Rights holder/Author | No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation. |
Source | http://treatment.plazi.org/id/A55B0EE31FE9B7D83E67D60235EB76E4 |
Longevity in S. richteri is dependent upon caste. Males can be quite long-lived relative to workers, but will die within days of leaving the mound and mating. Workers live a little over half a year in the wild, and live anywhere from 10 to 70 weeks in laboritories. Successful queens live approximately five years in the wild, and 6 to 7 years in captivity.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 5 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 7 years.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Solenopsis_richteri/ |
Taxonomic history
Creighton, 1930b PDF: 87 (m.); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1977a PDF: 589 (l.). |
Raised to species: Buren, 1972 PDF: 4. |
Senior synonym of Solenopsis tricuspis: Creighton, 1930b PDF: 87; of Solenopsis oblongiceps: Trager, 1991 PDF: 187. |
See also: Rhoades, 1977: 1. |
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | AntWeb |
Source | http://www.antweb.org/description.do?genus=solenopsis&name=richteri&rank=species |
As with many other ants, BIFA reproduction occurs during a "nuptial flight." Virgin queens emerge from the mound by the hundreds along with males and copulation takes place in the air. Favorable conditions to trigger the onset of a nuptial flight are air temperature of between 75 and 90 degrees, ground temperature above 65 degrees, and high humidity. New nest mounds tend to form downwind of the parent mound, indicating that wind may be an important factor as well. Nuptial flights usually occur in the afternoon. In the United States, they occur in every month except January. In South America, they usually occur between January and April.
Colonies mature in two years. In the United States, egg production is seasonal, beginning in March. Sexual broods are laid before worker broods. Egg production ends with the onset of winter. In South America, egg production peaks in the summer (January to March) and in the winter (July to September). Eggs laid in the summer only develop into workers, whereas all castes develop in the winter.
Breeding season: In their native South America, these animals have nuptual flights between January and April, but in North America, breeding may be more frequent.
Key Reproductive Features: semelparous ; seasonal breeding ; sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous ; sperm-storing ; delayed fertilization
- Grzimek, B. 1972. Grzimek's Animal Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc..
- Holldobler, B., E. Wilson. 1990. The Ants. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Holldobler, B., E. Wilson. 1994. Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Taber, S. 2000. Fire Ants. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Solenopsis_richteri/ |
Black Imported Fire Ants (BIFA), Solenopsis richteri, are a native of South America. The range of these ants in South America extends from northern Argentina throughout Uruguay and into southern Brazil. The species was accidentally introduced into the southeastern United States around 1918 in the city of Mobile, Alabama. From there it spread outward until the it came into competition with Red Imported Fire Ants Solentopsis invicta upon the introduction of this latter species approximately twenty years later. The range of BIFA in the United States has now stabilized in Mississippi and Alabama, although the species is beginning to spread into western Tennessee.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Introduced ); neotropical (Native ); australian (Introduced )
- Holldobler, B., E. Wilson. 1990. The Ants. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Holldobler, B., E. Wilson. 1994. Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Taber, S. 2000. Fire Ants. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2013, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Solenopsis_richteri/ |
The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.
No available public DNA sequences.
Download FASTA File
United States
Origin: Exotic
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Solenopsis+richteri |