Wikipedia:Picture of the day/October 28, 2005

Picture of the day

Fire ants

Fire ants, like these Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta), are more aggressive than most native ant species and have a painful sting that is rarely life-threatening to humans and other large animals, but can kill smaller animals such as birds. Fire ants cannot be killed by flooding. If the ants sense a change in water levels in their nests, they will come together and form a huge ball that is able to float on the water and protects the queen in its center.

Photo credit: Scott Bauer
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