Two species of fire ants are found in Florida. Most notorious is Solenopsis invicta Buren, the red imported fire ant (RIFA), followed by the much less common Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius), the tropical or native fire ant.
Leaf curl is a plant disease characterized by curling of leaves, and caused by a fungus, genus Taphrina, or virus, especially genus Begomovirus of the family Geminiviridae.
The damage may appear as tiny or large holes in the leaf, or as irregularly shaped leaves with jagged edges. If plant leaves are still growing when the insect feeds, the damage may later appear to have smooth edges around the feeding holes. Only insects cause these types of damage. Leaf curling, puckering or rolling The saliva of some sucking insects, especially aphids, may cause plant leaves to fold, curl or pucker. These insect symptoms can be confused with some plant diseases that cause similar symptoms.