Fire ants deserve better press than they usually get, says an FSU biologist who went on national television recently to discuss the insects most people view as unwelcome invaders.

Biological science Professor Walter R. Tschinkel and his research on fire ants were featured in March on the popular television program "National Geographic Explorer."

"I hope that as a result of this program people will be able to see beyond the hype that has always surrounded the fire ant and see it for the interesting creature it really is and for what it can tell us about how social insects make their living," said Tschinkel, one of the world's leading authorities on fire ants.

For the past few years, he has devoted his research to territorial disputes in which fire ant colonies war with their neighbors for foraging space. His work has been widely published in scientific journals and in popular science magazines such as Scientific American, Discover and Geo.

Tschinkel's research team devised a ground-breaking method of measuring entire colonies in the field to gather basic demographic information -- which is much better than working with laboratory samples -- to determine such things as life span of queens, colony growth rates, and seasonal fluctuations in colony size and make-up.