NOTE:Images are free to use with proper acknowledgement - "Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State University Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and/or Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry." If using photographs that are credited to an individual or other entity, please acknowledge same.
This electrical contact was completely shorted out by the bodies of dead fire ants.
Red imported fire ants can severely damage heat pumps and air conditioning units by carrying soil up into them.
Hotdog slices and corn chips are good materials for monitoring fire ant foraging activity. In less than 15 min., this hotdog slice was almost completely covered with foraging fire ants.
Specialized container used for rearing (raising) phorid flies for release in Oklahoma. This container was designed by Dr. Sanford Porter, USDA-ARS, who had worked closely with researchers in Oklahoma on phorid releases.
Fire ant mounds do not always assume a domed appearance. When a colony moves and builds a new mound, the new activity can look much like this.
Fire ants frequently nest under and within wood and other debris (Photo by W. Smith).
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Fire ant colonies are not always easy to see. This colony was hidden in leaves. Workers rush out to defend the colony when it is disturbed - in this case, with a pencil (Photo by W. Smith).
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Flooding doesn't bother fire ants - they simply float to higher ground! This colony has floated to a landscape timber after a flood at Lake Texoma, OK (Photo by W. Smith).
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Here is the same colony a bit later as it traveled up the landscape timber (Photo by W. Smith).
