THE RED IMPORTED FIRE ANT, SOLENOPSIS INVICTA, IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE)

The best known and most destructive exotic ant species in the US is the red imported fire
ant,
Solenopsis invicta
Buren. Recently, this species has been reported from several islands
in the West Indies, including St. Croix, US Virgin Islands (USVI) and Guana Island, British
Virgin Islands (BVI). In the present study, we report new records of
S. invicta
on St. Croix
(13 sites) and the first records of
S. invicta
from 3 other of the Virgin Islands: St. Thomas,
USVI (7 sites), St. John, USVI (2 sites), and Tortola, BVI (6 sites).
Solenopsis invicta
appears
to be well established in disturbed open environments on all 4 islands. It is important that
people in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere in the West Indies, particularly healthcare professionals,
are aware of the presence of
S. invicta
, can recognize the symptoms of
S. invicta
stings, and know proper treatments for adverse reactions to the stings, including rare but
potentially deadly anaphylactic shock.