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A fire ant bite occurs when a particular type of aggressive, venomous ant stings your skin.
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The bites are painful, itchy and usually on your legs and feet. Rarely, the venom causes a life-threatening reaction.
A fire ant red-tinged insect. Its size ranges from 1 millimeter (mm) (the tip of a pencil) to 5 mm (the size of a pencil eraser). It has six legs and two pinching mandibles that protrude from its head. It has a pouch of venom and a stinger on its rear end.
Fire ants are common in the United States, especially in the southeast.
Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta and S. richteri) were accidentally imported from South America to Alabama in the 1930s.
The ants live in large numbers in colonies or nests in the ground.
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