 the red imported fire ant (solenopsis invicta), or simply rifa, is one of over 280 species in the widespread genus solenopsis. although the red imported fire ant is native to south america,m. s. ascunce et al., âglobal invasion history of the fire ant solenopsis invictaâ, science, vol. 331, no. 6020, pp. 1066 - 1068, 2011. - see more at: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6020/1066.short it has become a pest in the southern united states, australia, the caribbean, taiwan, hong kong, the southern chinese provinces of guangdong,z. ling, l. yongyue, h. xiaofang, z. weiqiu, and l. guangwen, âidentification of red imported fire ant, solenopsis invicta, to invade mainland china and infestation in wuchuan, guangdongâ, chinese bulletin of entomology, vol. 42, pp. 144â148, 2005. guangxi and fujian, and macau, rifas are known to give a painful, persistently irritating sting that often leaves a pustule on the
Agricultural_pest_insects Animals_with_sequenced_genomes Biting_insects Household_pest_insects IUCN_Red_List_least_concern_species Insects_described_in_1972 Invasive_insect_species Myrmicinae