This story from Texas is sad, but it gives us insight into the fact that just one sting from an insect could kill you. “Texas student dies after allergic reaction reportedly caused by ants on football field“.
Just one sting from a honeybee or wasp can kill some people, it is more rare for Fire Ants to kill someone. However the Red Imported Fire Ant continues its move across the U.S. Here is some information from the University of Florida – IFAS office on Red Imported Fire Ants.
“Fire ant venom as a Fungicide”
In their experiments, the researchers used sophisticated extraction techniques to obtain purified amounts of piperdeine and piperidine from the venom glands of both red and black imported fire ants.
In this case they are testing the venom, several ant species use different techniques to tend gardens of fungi so I wonder how this would work?
Photo provided by Univar PPS
Harvester Ants…
Harvester Ants – OK I’ve never been stung by this ant but they say this is the ant to avoid. People compare the sting of the Red Imported Fire Ant and still rank the Harvester as the nastiest little stinger of the pair. This ant is quite noticeable due to the large area of vegetation that is cleared away. They gather seeds and will eat other insects. There was a nest of this ant up north that whenever I visited I would bring sunflower seeds and one year the nest was gone. Probably moved on or got destroyed.
