Fire ants can kill you

Fire ants are 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. 

In about five percent of cases, fire ants canactually cause death. "In those cases, where people have a volatile reaction, some of them actually do die," said Raupp. "It's a severe allergic reaction -- throats swell up and people literally suffocate. But that is very rare.