Solenopsis invicta – also called red imported fire ants (RIFA) to distinguish them from other Solenopsis species and species called “fire ant” – is an extremely aggressive ant species native to central South America and now introduced in the southern United States, southern China and some locales in Australia. They are called “fire ants” due to their painful sting, which includes the toxin solenopsin (C17H35N). Fire ant attacks can be very painful to humans and large livestock, and fatal to smaller livestock and wild animals. Further, RIFA have had harmful ecological effects by out-competing native ant species as well as unsustainable predation levels of plant seeds, other invertabrates, and even small animals. However, there have been some attempts to use these qualities to control the spread of ticks and agricultural pests.