Southern fire ant

The southern fire ant (Solenopsis xyloni), also known as the Californian fire ant or cotton ant,^[1]: 89 is a stinging fire ant native to southern parts of the United States.^[2][3][4] Its behaviour is similar to the red imported fire ant (S. invicta), although its sting is less painful. It has a broad and opportunistic diet, and will store seeds in its nest and eat honeydew collected from other insects.^{[1]: 91 [5][6]}

Southern fire ant
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Genus:	Solenopsis
Species:	S. xyloni
Binomial name
Solenopsis xyloni McCook, 1879

The southern fire ant shares its range with the red imported fire ant (S. invicta), the golden fire ant (S. aurea) and S. amblychila. The southern fire ant has the widest distribution of these,^{[citation needed]} occurring from the Carolinas to California, including Georgia, lowland Tennessee, Arkansas, and southern Kansas.^[1]