In 1972, American entomologist William Buren described what he thought was a new species, naming it "Solenopsis invicta". Buren collected a holotype worker from Cuiabá in Mato Grosso, Brazil, and provided the first official description of the ant in a journal article published by the Georgia Entomological Society. He accidentally misspelled "invicta" as "invica" above the description pages of the species, although it was clear that "invicta" was the intended spelling because of the constant use of the name in the article. The type material is currently housed in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.