Distribution patterns of imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on a sheep and goat farm in Oklahoma.

Imported fire ant colonies were quantified in 1,000-m(2) circular subplots spaced approximately 125 m apart on a sheep and goat farm in Oklahoma. Social form (percent polygyny), mound density, cumulative above-ground mound volume, and average mound volume were subjected to multiple regression analyses to examine trends related to landscape metrics and habitat characteristics. Monogyne populations were spatially autocorrelated, and polygyne mounds tended to be smaller and more numerous.

Imported fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) mound shape characteristics along a north-south gradient.

The nests of some mound-building ants are thought to serve an important function as passive solar collectors. To test this hypothesis, imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren, S. richteri Forel, and their hybrid) mound shape characteristics (south facing slope angle and area, mound height, and basal elongation in the plane of the ground) were quantified in 2005 and 2006 at a number of locations from approximately 30 degrees 25' N (Long Beach, MS) to 35 degrees 3' N (Fayetteville, TN).

Dynamic thermal structure of imported fire ant mounds.

A study was undertaken to characterize surface temperatures of mounds of imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and S. richteri Forel, and their hybrid, as it relates to sun position and shape of the mounds, to better understand factors that affect absorption of solar radiation by the nest mound and to test feasibility of using thermal infrared imagery to remotely sense mounds. Mean mound surface temperature peaked shortly after solar noon and exceeded mean surface temperature of the surrounding surface.