Fire Ants

The notorious Red Imported Fire Ants , the American South's "ant from hell," was accidentally introduced into the port of Mobile, Alabama, sometime in the 1930's. Its native range is northern Argentina and southern Brazil, and the first immigrant colonies probably made their ways north as stowaways on cargo ships. The species then spread throughout the southern United States, where today its vast populations of fiercely stinging workers make it a major pest.