5 ms·

You have obviously not been bitten by a fire ant. Their name was not inspired by their red color, but by their burning, venomous bites which leave huge weeping

by Mz 9y ago

You have obviously not been bitten by a fire ant. Their name was not inspired by their red color, but by their burning, venomous bites which leave huge weeping pustules. If you are allergic or sensitive, it is worse. If you had ever been bitten, you would understand the desire to kill them if you can, any way you can. (Bonus: According to the article, the floating ant rafts are 165% more venomous than usual. I cannot imagine.)

cat199 9y ago
to put things in some perspective, they do suck, but are not as bad as a bee sting or wasp sting, at least in my opinion. However, you are much more likely to get a bazillion bites, for example if you step in a nest and don't notice it until they are crawling up your leg..
- Mz 9y ago
  My recollection is that you tend to not have just one bite. They are quite aggressive and tend to attack in groups. If you look at pics on the web of fire ant bites, they typically show many bites. Unless you are talking African Killer Bees, this is not typically true for bees. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fire+ant+bites+&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&pq=fire+ant+bites+&sc=0-0&sk=&cvid=084B674B030E4A11AB159077A9059777 https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fire+ant+bites+&qs=n&fo...
  - Amezarak 9y ago
    I might be crazy, but I've always been sure they coordinate their bites. You generally don't get bit until several to many ants have crawled onto you, and then you get a rapid succession of bites.
    - Mz 9y ago
      You are not crazy (see other excellent comment). They are evil little beasties. I have been enjoying the descriptions here, like nasty little balls of hate and invasive species made of spite. Those are much more poetic and apt descriptions than I can come up with. My brother was once sprayed with them by the lawnmower. He was in shorts (so his bare legs were inundated) and he reacts a lot worse to them than most people I know. I took over the lawn mowing for a few weeks after that.
    - yourapostasy 9y ago
      You are not crazy. They do bite essentially at the same time. Scientific explanations of the mechanism behind that perception: [1] [2]. [1] https://articles.extension.org/pages/34572/why-do-fire-ants-sting-all-at-once https://articles.extension.org/pages/34572/why-do-fire-ants-... [2] http://fireant.tamu.edu/manage/faq/ http://fireant.tamu.edu/manage/faq/
- mcv 9y ago
  If it's a matter of opinion that they're not as bad as bee or wasp stings, then it sounds like they're still pretty bad.

by Mz 9y ago

cat199 9y ago

to put things in some perspective, they do suck, but are not as bad as a bee sting or wasp sting, at least in my opinion. However, you are much more likely to get a bazillion bites, for example if you step in a nest and don't notice it until they are crawling up your leg..

Mz 9y ago
My recollection is that you tend to not have just one bite. They are quite aggressive and tend to attack in groups. If you look at pics on the web of fire ant bites, they typically show many bites. Unless you are talking African Killer Bees, this is not typically true for bees. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fire+ant+bites+&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&pq=fire+ant+bites+&sc=0-0&sk=&cvid=084B674B030E4A11AB159077A9059777 https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fire+ant+bites+&qs=n&fo...
- Amezarak 9y ago
  I might be crazy, but I've always been sure they coordinate their bites. You generally don't get bit until several to many ants have crawled onto you, and then you get a rapid succession of bites.
  - Mz 9y ago
    You are not crazy (see other excellent comment). They are evil little beasties. I have been enjoying the descriptions here, like nasty little balls of hate and invasive species made of spite. Those are much more poetic and apt descriptions than I can come up with. My brother was once sprayed with them by the lawnmower. He was in shorts (so his bare legs were inundated) and he reacts a lot worse to them than most people I know. I took over the lawn mowing for a few weeks after that.
  - yourapostasy 9y ago
    You are not crazy. They do bite essentially at the same time. Scientific explanations of the mechanism behind that perception: [1] [2]. [1] https://articles.extension.org/pages/34572/why-do-fire-ants-sting-all-at-once https://articles.extension.org/pages/34572/why-do-fire-ants-... [2] http://fireant.tamu.edu/manage/faq/ http://fireant.tamu.edu/manage/faq/
mcv 9y ago
If it's a matter of opinion that they're not as bad as bee or wasp stings, then it sounds like they're still pretty bad.