In the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, resource availability, especially protein, is fundamental to colony development and reproduction.  The 4^th instar larvae are the only stage that is known to digest protein to a large extent.  Larvae process (digest) the food and the processed food is then distributed by the workers foremost to the queen, then among the remainder of the colony.  The larval secretions from these 4^th instar larvae, especially the meconium (excreta) are also collected by the workers and fed to the queen. The meconium is known to stimulate egg production in the queen (Tschinkel 1988).  However, since both solid and liquid excreta are produced, derivation of the actual stimulant is unknown.  Cassill and Vinson (unpublished data) suggest that the final urine-like excretions may stimulate egg production that are emitted from the anal slit of pre-meconial 4^th instar larvae ~24 hours before passing the meconium and its attending fluids. Thus, in this study we have made an effort to study the liquid excreta in detail and identify the chemical stimulant of egg production in queens.  The results so far suggest that both, liquid excreta from the 4^th instar larvae influences egg production adversely.  Similarly, in a different set of experiments, another fitness measure – the colony growth of the colony was used to determine the effect of liquid excretions on fire ant reproduction besides egg production.  The chemical analysis was also conducted on the liquid larval excretions including the juvenile hormone analysis.