Rasberry crazy ant

The ant is about 3 mm (or about 1/8 inches) long, thus smaller than the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. It is covered with reddish-brown hairs. Their larvae are plump and hairy, with a specific conformation of mouthparts and unique mandible morphology that allows for precise species identification.{{Cite journal|last1=Correa Bueno|first1=Odair|last2=Rossi|first2=Monica Lanzoni|last3=Solis|first3=Daniel Russ|last4=Fox|first4=Eduardo Gonçalves Paterson|date=2018-01-02|title=Morphological Studies on the Mature Worker Larvae of Paratrechina fulva (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)|url=https://figshare.com/articles/Morphological_Studies_on_the_Mature_Worker_Larvae_of_Paratrechina_fulva_Hymenoptera_Formicidae_/5746644|doi=10.6084/m9.figshare.5746644.v1}} The colonies live under stones or piles; they have no centralized nests, beds, or mounds. They tend aphids for honeydew, feed on small insects and vertebrates, and forage on plants, especially for sweet materials. The ants appear to prefer the warmth and moisture of the coast.Ralph Blumenthal, [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/us/16ants.html A Pest Without a Name, Becoming Known to Ever More], The New York Times, May 16, 2008

N. fulva has been a pest in rural and urban areas of Colombia, and South America, where it displaced all other ant species. There, small poultry such as chickens have died of asphyxiation while larger animals, such as cattle, have been attacked around the eyes, nostrils, and hooves. Grasslands have dried out because of the increase in plant-sucking insect pests (hemipterans), which the ants cultivate to feed on the sugary "honeydew" that they excrete.

When attacked, these ants, like other formicine ants, can bite (but not sting) and excrete formic acid through a hairy circle or acidopore on the end of the abdomen, using it as a venom,{{Cite journal|last1=Touchard|first1=Axel|last2=Aili|first2=Samira|last3=Fox|first3=Eduardo|last4=Escoubas|first4=Pierre|last5=Orivel|first5=Jérôme|last6=Nicholson|first6=Graham|last7=Dejean|first7=Alain|date=2016-01-20|title=The Biochemical Toxin Arsenal from Ant Venoms|journal=Toxins|volume=8|issue=1|pages=30|doi=10.3390/toxins8010030|pmid=26805882|issn=2072-6651|pmc=4728552|doi-access=free}} which causes a minute pain that quickly fades. Formic acid was named after the Latin word formica (ant), because it was first distilled from ants in the 17th century.{{cite journal|last=Everts|first=Sarah|title=An Ant's Acid Antidote|url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i9/Ants-Acid-Antidote.html|access-date=29 April 2014|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|volume=92|issue=9|date=3 March 2014|pages=44–45|doi=10.1021/cen-09209-scitech3}} Uniquely, the tawny ant also uses formic acid as an antidote against the venom alkaloids of the fire ant (known as solenopsins). The venom alkaloids of fire ants have been demonstrated to be strongly paralytic against competitor species,{{Cite journal|last1=Fox|first1=Eduardo G.P.|last2=Wu|first2=Xiaoqing|last3=Wang|first3=Lei|last4=Chen|first4=Li|last5=Lu|first5=Yong-Yue|last6=Xu|first6=Yijuan|date=February 2019|title=Queen venom isosolenopsin A delivers rapid incapacitation of fire ant competitors|journal=Toxicon|volume=158|pages=77–83|doi=10.1016/j.toxicon.2018.11.428|pmid=30529381|s2cid=54481057}} thus the tawny crazy ant may have developed a resistance by acid-immobilisation of the venom toxins.

Tawny crazy ants were found to displace other ant species in their native Argentina and later the US, including the red imported fire ant. This was first thought to be due to exploitative and interference competition.{{cite web |url=http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/pdf/McDonald%202012.pdf |title=Investigation of an invasive ant species: Nylanderia fulva colony extraction, management, diet preference, fecundity, and mechanical vector potential |author=Danny Lee McDonald |date=December 2012 |website=aglifesciences.tamu.edu |access-date=19 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922035606/http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/pdf/McDonald%202012.pdf |archive-date=22 September 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

In March 2014, researchers concluded that formic acid helped tawny crazy ants survive fire ant venom in ant fights 98% of the time; when the gland ducts were blocked with nail polish in an experiment, crazy ants had only a 48% chance of surviving fights with fire ants. After exposure to fire ant venom, N. fulva retreats, covers itself with formic acid{{cite web|website=ScienceDaily|author=University of Texas at Austin|date=February 13, 2014|title=Crazy ants dominate fire ants by neutralizing their venom|access-date= 16 February 2014|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140213142233.htm}} and returns to the fight. This is the first known example of an insect detoxifying another insect's venom, and the first discovery of an ionic liquid in nature which results from mixing of formic acid with venom from S. invicta.

How formic acid acts as an antidote against the much more toxic fire ant's venom is unknown. Fire ant venom is a mixture of toxic alkaloids and proteins that presumably enable the alkaloids to enter rival ants’ cells. Each alkaloid in the fire ant's venom, including solenopsin, has a six-membered heterocyclic ring with fat-soluble side chains. The researchers who discovered the antidote property of formic acid in crazy ants speculate that the formic acid denatures the proteins in fire ant venom. Another possibility is that the nitrogen on an alkaloid's heterocyclic ring is protonated, rendering the ionic molecule less lipophilic, thus less likely to penetrate the tawny crazy ant's cells.

N. fulva eats liquids, including plant nectar and insect honeydew. Calcium, sodium, and potassium are very important to N. fulva: Higher environmental potassium decreased abundance, and higher potassium + sodium decreased abundance even more so. Meanwhile, higher calcium increased abundance.

It is unclear why colonies of Nylanderia fulva are attracted to electrical equipment.{{cite web |url= https://gizmodo.com/5843822/these-ants-terrorize-everythingeven-gadgets |title=These Ants Terrorize Everything—Even Gadgets |first=Kwane |last=Opam |work=gizmodo.com |date=26 September 2011 |access-date=2 October 2011}} Infestations of Nylanderia fulva in electrical equipment can cause short circuits, sometimes because the ants chew through insulation and wiring. Overheating, corrosion, and mechanical failures also result from accumulations of dead ants and nest detritus in electrical devices.[http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?newsID=101522&pagtype=all NASA moves to save computers from swarming ants | Computerworld], Computerworld, 15 May 2008. If an ant is electrocuted, it can release an alarm pheromone upon death, which causes other ants to rush over and search for attackers. If a large enough number of ants gather, it may short out systems.{{cite web|last=McConnaughey |first=Janet |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/44740822 |title='Hairy crazy ants' invade from Florida to Texas - Technology & science - Science - NBCNews.com |publisher=NBC News |access-date=2012-08-13}}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Colonies of Nylanderia fulva are likely attracted to electrical equipment because the warm, confined space provides an attractive nesting place.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/magazine/crazy-ants.html | work=The New York Times | first=Jon | last=Mooallem | title=There's a Reason They Call Them 'Crazy Ants' | date=2013-12-05}}

The Texas A&M University research extension service quotes the annual rate of spread by ground migration as about 240 and 360 m per year in neighborhoods and industrial areas, respectively, and 207 m/year in rural landscapes{{cite web|url= https://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/urban-pests/ants/rasberry/|publisher=University of Texas A & M University, Center for Urban and Structural Entomology|title=Tawny (Rasberry) Crazy Ant|access-date=16 February 2014}} hence spreading more slowly than fire ants. Other sources quote {{convert|800|m|mi|abbr=on}} per year. Being carried by people, animals, and vehicles (in trash for example), the observed rate is much higher: the spread from five Texas counties in 2002 to 20 in 2007 yields an accelerated rate of {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on}} per year, at which rate it would take about 70 years for them to reach New Orleans. However, in 2011, tawny crazy ants were reported in Mississippi,[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSwlfUXeEwU Joe A. MacGown. Tawny crazy Ants invade Mississippi. YouTube video.] Posted 2011-09-29. in August 2012 in Port Allen, Louisiana,[http://www.wafb.com/story/19268611/army-of-raspberry-ants-march-into-port-allen Kiran Chawla. Army of hard to kill ants marches into south Louisiana. WAFB, Port Allen, LA.] Posted 2012-08-14. and in 2013 in Georgia.[http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/invasive-tawny-crazy-ant-found-in-georgia-0913/ Sharon Dowdy. Invasive tawny crazy ant found in Georgia. University of Georgia.] Posted 2013-09-17.

Image:Reported distribution of the Rasberry Crazy Ant in the United States - journal.pone.0045314.g001.png

The earliest record of N. fulva presence in the US is from Brownsville, Texas, in 1938.http://gap.entclub.org/taxonomists/Trager/1984b.pdf{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} By the early 2000s, the ants spread across the southeastern portion of Texas including more than 27 counties Large population explosions have been described also on St Croix in the US Virgin Islands; in many cases the ant species was misidentified as its close relative, the hairy crazy ant, Nylanderia pubens.{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3941545.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727002643/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3941545.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 27, 2008|title=Billions of electronic-eating 'crazy Rasberry ants' invade Texas|first=Chris|last=Ayres|publisher=Times UK|date=2008-05-16}}{{cite journal|last1=Wetterer|first1=James K.|last2=Keularts|first2=Jozef L. W.|title=Population explosion of the hairy crazy ant, Paratrechina pubens (hymenoptera: formicidae), on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands|journal=Florida Entomologist |date=September 2008 |volume=91 |issue=3 |pages=423–427 |url=http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/75828/73486|doi=10.1653/0015-4040(2008)91[423:peothc]2.0.co;2|s2cid=86286910 |doi-access=free}}{{cite web|url=http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/breaking-news/crazy-ants-the-ants-that-eat-electronics-march-int/nZ3zy/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054229/http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/breaking-news/crazy-ants-the-ants-that-eat-electronics-march-int/nZ3zy/|title='Crazy Ants': The ants that destroy electronics march into Georgia|author=Robert Lee |date=20 September 2013|archive-date=21 September 2013|work=www.wsbtv.com|via=web.archive.org|access-date=15 December 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://ant-maps.com/Crazy-Rasberry-ant.htm|title=Ccrazy Rasberry ant|publisher=Ant-maps.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801132735/http://ant-maps.com/Crazy-Rasberry-ant.htm|author= Arjan van den Bosch|archive-date=1 August 2009|access-date=15 December 2018}} As of 2012, the ants have established colonies in all states of the Gulf Coast of the United States. The ant is considered an invasive species.{{cite web|url=https://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/urban-pests/ants/rasberry/|title=Tawny (Rasberry) Crazy Ant. Nylanderia fulva|publisher=Texas A&M, Department of Entomology, Center for Urban & StructuralEntomology| access-date=2013-05-21}} {{as of|2021}} N. fulva establishment is limited to some southern parts of the country.

The ants are not attracted to ordinary ant baits, and are not controlled by over-the-counter pesticides,[https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_re_us/texas_ants;_ylt=Amuuu3dPi58OpMzGIOMc2Kys0NUE Ants swarm over Houston area, fouling electronics], Yahoo News, 15 May 2008. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080519173424/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_re_us/texas_ants |date=19 May 2008 }} and are harder to fully exterminate than many other species because their colonies have multiple queens. In June 2008, the United States Environmental Protection Agency granted temporary approval for the use of fipronil, an antitermite agent, to control this ant.[https://www.chron.com/life/gardening/article/Pesticide-for-SE-Texas-crazy-ants-approved-by-1782000.php Pesticide for SE Texas 'crazy' ants approved by EPA], Houston Chronicle, 2008-07-01, retrieved 2008-07-01 Its use is currently restricted to infested counties.[https://texasagriculture.gov/Portals/0/Publications/PEST/Sect18/termidor%20label.pdf FIFRA Sec. 18 Quarantine Exemption Use Directions], Texas Department of Agriculture, 2015, retrieved 2016-06-14

In 2015, the microsporidian parasite Myrmecomorba nylanderiae was found to be a pathogen of the tawny crazy ant.{{cite journal |last1=Plowes |first1=RM |last2=Becnel |first2=JJ |last3=LeBrun |first3=EG |last4=Oi |first4=DH |last5=Valles |first5=SM |last6=Jones |first6=NT |last7=Gilbert |first7=LE |title=Myrmecomorba nylanderiae gen. et sp. nov., a microsporidian parasite of the tawny crazy ant Nylanderia fulva. |journal=Journal of Invertebrate Pathology |date=July 2015 |volume=129 |pages=45–56 |doi=10.1016/j.jip.2015.05.012 |pmid=26031565}}{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Z |last2=Moshman |first2=L |last3=Kraus |first3=EC |last4=Wilson |first4=BE |last5=Acharya |first5=N |last6=Diaz |first6=R |title=A Review of the Tawny Crazy Ant, Nylanderia fulva, an Emergent Ant Invader in the Southern United States: Is Biological Control a Feasible Management Option? |journal=Insects |date=15 December 2016 |volume=7 |issue=4 |page=77 |doi=10.3390/insects7040077 |pmid=27983690|pmc=5198225 |doi-access=free }} In March 2022, further research indicated that this unicellular fungus may be an effective biological control for the tawny ant.{{cite journal |last1=Stokstad |first1=Eric |title=Invasive crazy ants could meet their match in a mysterious, funguslike pathogen |journal=Science |date=28 March 2022 |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/invasive-crazy-ants-could-meet-their-match-mysterious-funguslike-pathogen |publisher=AAAS |language=en}}{{cite journal |last1=LeBrun |first1=Edward G. |last2=Jones |first2=Melissa |last3=Plowes |first3=Robert M. |last4=Gilbert |first4=Lawrence E. |title=Pathogen-mediated natural and manipulated population collapse in an invasive social insect |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=5 April 2022 |volume=119 |issue=14 |pages=e2114558119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2114558119|pmid=35344435 |pmc=9168452 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11914558L |s2cid=247778033 }}

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{{reflist | 30em|refs=

{{cite web | last=Reihart | first=Ryan | title=Invasive tawny crazy ants have an intense craving for calcium – with implications for their spread in the US | website=The Conversation | date=2021-01-21 | url=http://theconversation.com/invasive-tawny-crazy-ants-have-an-intense-craving-for-calcium-with-implications-for-their-spread-in-the-us-152652 | access-date=2021-01-23}}

{{cite journal | last1=Sharma | first1=Shweta | last2=Oi | first2=David H. | last3=Buss | first3=Eileen A. | title=Honeydew-Producing Hemipterans in Florida Associated with Nylanderia fulva (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an Invasive Crazy Ant | journal=The Florida Entomologist | publisher=Florida Entomological Society | volume=96 | issue=2 | year=2013 | issn=0015-4040 | doi=10.1653/024.096.0219 | pages=538–547| s2cid=54668879 | doi-access=free }}

{{cite journal | last1=Reihart | first1=Ryan W. | last2=Angelos | first2=Kiersten P. | last3=Gawkins | first3=Kaitlin M. | last4=Hurst | first4=Shania E. | last5=Montelongo | first5=Denise C. | last6=Laws | first6=Angela N. | last7=Pennings | first7=Steven C. | last8=Prather | first8=Chelse M. | title=Crazy ants craving calcium: macronutrients and micronutrients can limit and stress an invaded grassland brown food web | journal=Ecology | publisher=Wiley | date=2021-01-11 | volume=102 | issue=2 | pages=e03263 | issn=0012-9658 | doi=10.1002/ecy.3263 | pmid=33314072 | s2cid=229178510 | doi-access=free }}

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• Mooallem, Jon. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/magazine/crazy-ants.html There's a Reason They Call Them 'Crazy Ants']". The New York Times. December 8, 2013.
• {{cite web|last=Maron|first=Dina Fine|title=The Rise of the Crazy Ants|url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-rise-of-the-crazy-ants/|work=Scientific American |access-date=14 February 2014|date=13 February 2014}}

• [http://ourbaytown.com/baytownbert/images6/Ants-Pillbug.jpg Photo of ants and pill bug, La Porte Texas]
• [http://ourbaytown.com/baytownbert/images6/Ants-Pillbug2.jpg Photo of ants and pill bug on a peanut, La Porte Texas]
• [http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/05/24/2013/-crazy-ants-spreading-in-the-southeastern-us.html {{"'}}Crazy Ants' Spreading in the Southeastern US"], May 24, 2013, Science Friday

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Category:Formicinae

Category:Household pest insects

Category:Insects described in 1862