Fire ant queens. Even if only one queen survives, within a month or so, the colony can expand to thousands of individuals. Some colonies may be polygynous (having multiple queens per nest). Fire ants are resilient and can survive floods. During Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017, clumps of fire ants, known as rafts, were seen clumped together on the surface of the water. Each clump had as many as 100,000 individual ants, which formed a temporary structure until finding a new permanent home. Fire ant queens, the reproductive females in their colony, also are generally the largest. Their primary function is
Toxicology of red imported fire ant venom entire body of the ant and not just the venom, and unlike fire ant venom immunotherapy (which is occasionally used), WBE contains venom proteins. To reduce a patient's sensitivity to the venom, gradual increases of dose extracts are injected into the body. WBE immunotherapy appears to be very effective in preventing systemic reactions; in one study of participants who completed WBE immunotherapy, two out of fifteen participants suffered from allergic reactions upon being stung 18 months after immunotherapy. As mentioned, fire ant venom immunotherapy is occasionally used, and studies show it can reduce the risk of systemic reactions. In fact,