Fire ant envenomation in children.

Fire ants (Solenopsis richteri and Solenopsis invicta) have received scant attention from individuals other than agriculturists, entomologists, and victims of the bite and sting. Since their original importation into Mobile, Alabama, these small, seemingly benign, creatures have slowly migrated throughout most of the southern United States. Not unexpectedly, physicians working in the southern portions of the United States have been confronted with increasingly large numbers of patients, particularly children, who have been bitten and envenomated by these insects. Information regarding the pathogenesis of fire ant bite reactions and an approach to treatment are provided.