Recently, some areas have reported incidents of red fire ants injuring people. Where do red fire ants come from and what are the dangers? Let's see what the experts have to say!
01
What do red fire ants look like
The origin of red fire ants is South America, and the individual is slightly larger than that of ordinary ants, with a body length of 3~10 mm and a reddish-brown color.
Red fire ants often build their nests in open, sunny and food-rich places, such as parks, lawns, open spaces, barren slopes, orchards, farmlands, water source protection areas, etc., generally more than 10 cm above the ground to form arched or sand-like anthills, and the interior is honeycomb-shaped.
02
How to identify red fire ants
For non-specialists, they can be identified in the following ways.
Identified by the appearance of the nest. The red fire ant nest is raised on the ground, a mound-like anthill, and the interior is honeycomb-shaped, while the nest of ordinary ants does not bulge.
Identified based on the symptoms after being stung. After a red fire ant sting, the bite site often has itching, burning pain, redness and swelling, blisters and even pustules; A small number of people are allergic to the venom proteins in red fire ant venom.
03
How much of a health threat red fire ants pose
Red fire ants not only feed on the seeds, fruits, young shoots, and young stems of crops, but are also typical carnivores, with "five evils": they like to attack, love to bite, eat seeds, sting animals, and drill electrical boxes.
Red fire ants are extremely aggressive and do not flee when disturbed, but will become very aggressive in groups, injecting venom into their victims through stinging. There will be continuous burning, pain or itching at the site of the sting, and the local skin will form erythema, blisters, hard swelling, and itching, and if no measures are taken to treat the blister after rupture, it is likely to cause bacterial secondary infection.
In addition, a small number of people have an allergic reaction to red fire ant bites, and sensitive people will experience symptoms such as flushing, hives, and even difficulty breathing. Severe allergic reactions will cause symptoms such as vomiting, dizziness and shock, and should seek medical attention in time.
04
How to control red fire ants
1. If a suspicious red fire ant anthill is found, the suspicious anthill should be marked with obvious signs, avoid stepping on it, stay away immediately, and report to the relevant management department, and professional and technical personnel will prevent and control the red fire ant. Do not dispose of it personally, and do not stay and move in the red fire ant occurrence area for long periods of time.
2. When working in places infested by red fire ants, it is necessary to strengthen personal protection, wear gloves, wear long-sleeved shirts, trousers, socks and high water shoes, and the outer circumference of the shoes can be coated with petroleum jelly or talcum powder.
3. Once stung by red fire ants, rinse with soapy water or water, and then apply glucocorticoid ointment, such as hydrocortisone butyrate, triamcinolone acetonide or halomethasone and other drugs to relieve it, do not scratch the wound to avoid breaking the pustule infection.
4. If there is a large area of erythema and rash after being stung by red fire ants, oral antihistamines and other treatments can be given under the guidance of a doctor; In case of severe allergic reactions (such as generalized itching, urticaria, redness and swelling of the face, dyspnea, chest tightness, rapid heartbeat, etc.), you should go to a regular medical institution for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible.
Source: Healthy China