Encyclopedia of Life · EOL (see source)
Species
德州火蟻群 火蟻屬（Solenopsis Westwood, 1840）隸屬於蟻科家蟻亞科，大約有380個物種，其中最知名的為入侵紅火蟻（Solenopsis invicta），其腹部末端帶有螫針，動物被螫傷後毒素會進入體內，嚴重的情况下會因全身性過敏而休克，甚至導致死亡。「火蟻」（Fire Ants）俗名是在描述被其螫刺後如火灼傷般疼痛感，有些情況會出現如灼傷般的水泡，值得注意的是，Solenopsis是一個組成複雜的屬，其生態行為也多樣，因此，「火蟻」（Fire Ants）的俗名適用於那些較具侵略性的物種。 火蟻屬是一個組成複雜、龐大且難以分類的屬，大部分的物種體型微小、具單形性(monomorphic)、且生活在土壤之下，這些體型微小的物種有些被稱作為「賊蟻」(thief ants)，賊蟻生活在其他體型較大的白蟻或螞蟻的巢中。有些新世界的物種體型較大且為多形性(polymorphic)，他們的群落大小可以達到相當大的規模，且工蟻為極具侵略性的表層掠食者，這些物種也就是俗稱的「火蟻」(fire ants)。
via · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 16,357
- With media
- 617
- Family
- Formicidae
- Collections
- UQROO
- Recorded in
- Mexico
Research
1,177 papers- Therapeutic Potential of Solenopsis invicta Venom: A Scoping Review of Its Bioactive Molecules, Biological Aspects, and Health Applications.Biomolecules · 2024
- Potential anti-tumor effects of Solenopsis invicta venom.Frontiers in immunology · 2023
- Pseudacteon Phorid Flies: Host Specificity and Impacts on Solenopsis Fire Ants.Annual review of entomology · 2018
- Biology, ecology, and management of cotton mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae).Pest management science · 2021
- Unique venom proteins from Solenopsis invicta x Solenopsis richteri hybrid fire ants.Toxicon: X · 2021
via PubMed
~17 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Fire ants are several species of ants in the genus Solenopsis, which includes over 200 species. Solenopsis are stinging ants, and most of their common names reflect this, for example, ginger ants and tropical fire ants. Many of the names shared by this genus are often used interchangeably to refer to other species of ant, such as the term red ant, mostly because of their similar coloration despite not being in the genus Solenopsis. Both Myrmica rubra and Pogonomyrmex barbatus are common examples of non-Solenopsis ants being termed red ants.
None of these common names apply to all species of Solenopsis nor exclusively to species of Solenopsis; for example, several species of weaver ants of the genus Oecophylla in Southeast Asia are colloquially called "fire ants" because of their similar coloration and painful bites, but the two genera are not closely related. Wasmannia auropunctata is another unrelated ant more commonly called the "little fire ant" due to its potent sting.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Solenopsis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.