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Crazy Ant

Crazy Ant (Longhorned)

General Description

Credit: April Nobile, www.antweb.org

 

  • The worker is about 2.3 to 3.0 mm long with a brownish-black head, thorax, petiole, and gaster.
  • The body has long, coarse, scattered, grayish, or whitish setae.
  • The body has a few short, whitish bristles.
  • The antennae and limbs are pale brown.
  • The eyes are elliptical and set far back on the head.
  • It has no sting, but the ant can bite and secrete formic acid onto its prey.
  • They are too feeble to harm humans.
  • Workers move around jerkily in apparently random directions.

 

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

  • Colonies of crazy ants are moderate to very populous.
  • They typically nest outdoors in either dry or moist locations, such as associated with trash,
  • mulched areas in plantings, in rotten wood, or behind thick vegetation around foundations.
  • They can also nest indoors, in wall voids, under carpeting, in or under potted plants, or in cracks of masonry.
  • The colonies may raise sexuals at any time of the year in warmer regions, but alate production is limited to the warm rainy months of May to September.
  • Males gather outside nest entrances during the warm and humid environment and can be found on vegetation and structures nearby.
  • Periodically, a dealate wingless queen emerges.
  • Mating occurs in groupings around the nest entrance.
  • Workers are omnivorous, and feed on seeds, honeydew, fruits, household foods, and on live and dead insects
  • The crazy ant thrives in places such as gasoline stations, convenience stores, and sidewalk cafes.
  • They feed on a high-protein diet, and during the summer months may refuse honey or sugar baits.
  • They obtain honeydew by tending aphids, mealybugs, and soft scales.
  • They are highly adaptable to different environmental conditions.
  • The nest can be found at distance from its foraging area.
  • The nest is found in the trash, rotten wood, cavities in plants and trees, and in soil.
  • Crazy ants are slender and relatively fast moving, and while foragers will follow pheromone trails, they frequently exhibit erratic, jerky or seemingly “crazy motions disturbed or threatened.

 

Damage and Economic & Medical Implications

  • It is considered as a household pest and is found on the top floor of apartment buildings and in hotel kitchens searching for food.
  • It is an agricultural pest and its feeding behaviors or preferences are varied. It can assist in the distribution and protection of phloem-feeding aphids, scale insects, and mealybugs.