Southern Fire Ants (Solenopsis xyloni)

General: Solenopsis xyloni is a fast paced, fun species to keep! They range in color from black to red, and can be polygynous in some populations. They grow extremely fast if heated and fed correctly, and colonies get majors quickly. Beware, this species stings. If you get a large colony, have a nest or outworld prepared.

Diet: These ants have a generalist diet. They can eat anything from seeds to proteins to sugars. They prefer lots of protein and liquid sugars. Growth speed depends mostly on how much this species is fed.

Temperature: This species requires some sort of heat source. They prefer heat between 85-95 degrees, with a slight heating gradient through the nest. This species will not grow quickly without heating.

Diapause: Solenopsis xyloni does not need diapause, and will not live through a cold diapause. Do not diapause Solenopsis xyloni. You can cool down this species to slow their growth (room temperature).

Growth: Brood development takes around 3-5 weeks. It depends mostly on heating, but averages 4 weeks. Colonies can reach the hundreds of thousands, but rarely do. Colonies can grow into the thousands within months if fed and heated enough. This species is very self-paced. You can usually manage their growth quite easily.

Queen size: 6-8mm

Worker size: 2.5-4mm

Major size: 4-6.5mm

SEE VARIANT PAGE

If ants arrive in bad condition, contact us for help. Live arrival is guaranteed.

This species has variants, and we may sell multiple of them here.

Red Variant (regular)

The Red variant is the most common and widespread variant of Solenopsis xyloni. It is typically monogynous.

Queen size: 7-8mm

Worker size: 2.5-4mm

Major size: 4-6mm

Arizona Black Variant:

The Arizona Black Variant is a variant of Solenopsis xyloni from Arizona. Both the workers and queens are black. Majors can be slightly larger than the regular red variant of Solenopsis xyloni, and colonies are usually polygynous, therefore having slightly smaller queens than the regular variant.

Queen size: 6-7mm

Worker size: 2-4mm

Major size: 4-6.5mm