Narnia to Martin Heina, age 10, of Winston  Salem, N.C., for his question:

WHAT ARE FIRE ANTS?

The fire ant's sting feels like a red hot needle. These large, reddish brown ants have spread through the South, where they sting and devour many small native animals. Their fierce colonies build mounded nests two feet high and three feet wide.

Actually they do not belong in North America. The first ones arrived in Louisiana from South America in 1918. Since then, the wretched creatures have spread into Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and parts of Texas.