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Common Family Name : Ants : Crazy ant
Common Name: Crazy ant
Latin Name: Paratrechina longicornis (Latr.)
Common Family Name: Ants
Latin Family Name: Formicidae
The Crazy Rasberry ant or Rasberry Crazy ant is an invasive species of ant found near Houston, Texas.
The species has been named "crazy" because of the ants' random, nonlinear movements, and "Rasberry" after the exterminator Tom Rasberry who first noticed they were a problem in 2002. Scientists believe they are related to the Caribbean crazy ant. This ant has yet to be identified to species due to confusion regarding the taxonomy of the genus, and have for now named the species Paratrechina species near pubens.There is currently a large infestation in five counties around Houston, Texas. The ants appear to prefer the warmth and moistness of the coast.
Appearance The ants are about 3 millimeters long (equivalent of one-eighth inch) and are covered with reddish-brown hairs. The colonies have multiple queens.They feed on ladybugs, fire ants and Attwater's prairie chicken hatchlings, as well as plants. They are able to out-compete fire ants because they reproduce faster.The ants are not attracted to ordinary ant baits, are not controlled by over-the-counter pesticides,and are harder to fully exterminate because of the fact that their colonies have multiple queens.
It is unclear why this species, like many varieties of ants, is attracted to electrical equipment, including computers and air conditioners. It may be that they sense the magnetic field that surrounds wires with electric current flowing through them. Or, they might prefer the heat byproduct of resistance in the wires. However, it could simply be that they are searching for food or a nesting location that is easy to defend.
Their infestation of electrical equipment can cause short circuits when they chew through insulation. Overheating and mechanical failures can also be caused by high numbers of dead workers in electrical devices.
Range The coverage rate of the ant itself is about 800 meters (about 1/2 US mile) per year. However, being carried by people, animals, and vehicles, the Crazy Raspberry Ant has covered five counties in Texas from 2002 to 2007. This yields a rate of 8 kilometers (about 5 US miles) per year. At this accelerated rate, it would take about 70 years for them to reach New Orleans, 563 kilometers (or 350 US miles) away.
Control In June 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency granted temporary approval for the use of fipronil to control this ant. The pesticide is already used for termite control. It's use is restricted to 7 counties in the Houston, Texas area.
Believed to be native to India, but now found throughout the world. It is most common in the U.S. from Florida to Texas along the Gulf Coast, but also occurs in other states from California to New York, as well as in Hawaii.
This is a single-node ant whose common name comes from their habit of running around erratically, with no apparent purpose. Their extremely long legs and antennae tend to accentuate this behavior. Nests may be established in a wide variety of situations, from wet to dry habitats, in the soil under other objects, in tree holes, under mulch, in potted plant soils, or in other odd cavities they find. Within structures they nest in wall voids or under objects that are not moved for a period of time.
Their foods range from proteins to sugars, and they will tend aphids for honeydew. They also are excellent predators, feeding on the larvae or adults of many other insects, including fleas, flies, and fire ant swarmers.
The colony of the Crazy Ant may have numerous queens, and new colonies are often established by budding. Colonies commonly contain only 1000 to 2000 workers, but may have up to 40 queens. This is a monomorphic species where all the workers are the same size.
Workers are small, and dark brown to black. There is a single node and the legs and antennae are extremely long in relation to the rest of the body. The antennae have 12 segments, no club at the end, and the long basal segment is nearly twice the length of the head. There is a small circle of hairs surrounding the anal opening.
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