Fire ant is the
common name for several species of ants in the
genus Solenopsis. They are, however, only a minority in the genus, which includes over 200 species of
Solenopsis worldwide.
Solenopsis are
stinging ants and most of their common names reflect this, for example,
ginger ants and
tropical fire ants. Many species also are called
red ants because of their light brown colour, though species of ants in many other genera are similarly named for similar reasons. Examples include
Myrmica rubra and
Pogonomyrmex barbatus.