Recognizing the Good Bugs in Cotton - Texas Is Cotton Country ...

Fire Ants
Solenopsis invicta
Solenopsis geminata
Solenopsis xyloni
Solenopsis richteri
Characteristics: The red imported fire ant is a
reddish-brown to black ant identified by its very
painful sting which results in the formation of
an itching, white pustule. Red imported fire ants
are found throughout the southern U.S. from
North Carolina to central Texas. Related species
include the black imported fire ant, found in
northern Mississippi and Alabama; the tropical
fire ant, found along the Gulf Coast and north
to South Carolina; and the southern fire ant,
distributed along the southern U.S. from
California to North Carolina. All of these related
species can be found in cotton but have often
been displaced by the red imported fire ant.
Prey: Fire ants are voracious predators of bollworm
and budworm eggs and small caterpillars,
fleahoppers, boll weevils and other insects. Fire
ants often search cotton plants during the night
and thus go unobserved. Studies in Texas found
that a fire ant may take up to 0.3 bollworm or
budworm eggs and 0.1 small worms per day.
Fire ants quickly recruit nest mates to overcome
large caterpillars and other prey. Fire ants are
the only predators of boll weevil larvae and will
chew into fallen squares to butcher and carry
away weevil grubs. However, fire ants readily
feed on aphid honeydew and “farm” aphids by
driving away or killing predators and parasites
that attack aphids. As a result, large numbers of
fire ants can contribute to increases in aphid
infestations. Fire ants probably have little
impact on populations of predatory insects or
spiders in cotton, except those feeding on
aphids.
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