Paratrechina longicornis (Formicidae)

Species description or overview

Crazy ants: Paratrechina longicornis and Paratrechina bourbonica
Images, description, and biology of crazy ants are presented in this University of Florida page.

Those pesky tramp ants (Pest Control Technology Online)
Polygyny, monomorphism, and colony dispersal by budding and fission allow tramp ant species to succesfully invade new territories. These and other characteristics that benefit tramp ants are discussed in this article.

Identification

Taxonomy & nomenclature

Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802) taxonomy from ITIS
ITIS, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, lists taxonomic data for Paratrechina longicornis and allows searches of other databases.

Impacts

Ecological dominance by Paratrechina longicornis in Biosphere 2 
Paratrechina longicornis populations dominated Bioshere 2, feeding primarily on Homopteran excretions.

Control methods

Review of the efficacy of baits used for ant control and eradication
Ant species have varying responses to toxins and baits used for their control. This extensive review of published reports is a preamble to the development of recommendations for New Zealand.

Relative attractiveness of baits to Paratrechina longicornis (abstract)
Tuna and Xstinguish, along with sugar water and sugar water + boric acid, were the most attractive baits to P. longicornis foragers, according to this article in Journal of Economic Entomology.

Acceptability of different sugars and oils to three tropical ant species (abstract)
The acceptability of six sugars and oils to Pheidole megacephala, Ochetellus glaber, and Paratrechina longicornis was examined to determine potential preferences for bait.

Discussion forums

Human health issues

Images

Crazy ant head (Paratrechina longicornis) SEM image
This SEM (scanning electron microscope) image of Paratrechina longicornis is a lateral head view.

Distribution

A survey of urban pest ants in the Florida peninsula (Florida Entomologist, 1995) 
Eight species of ants were identified as key pests in Florida. The most common were Solenopsis invicta (14%), Tapinoma melanocephalum (14%), Paratrechina longicornis (14%), Camponotus abdominalis floridanus (12%), Monomorium pharaonis (11%), Camponotus tortuganus (8%), Pheidole megacephala (7%), and Paratrechina bourbonica (4%).

New arthropod records from Kahoolawe (Bishop Museum Occasional Papers, 2004) 
New island records of a variety of arthropods collected on Kahoolawe are reported here.

Checklist of the ants of Fiji (Bishop Museum Occasional Papers, 2006). 
This checklist of the ants of Fiji includes 138 currently valid species and subspecies: 91 Fijian endemics, 22 wide-ranging Pacific natives, and 25 exotics.

Full-text articles

The ecology, policy, and management of ants in Hawaii (Proc. Hawaiian Entomol Soc., 2005)
The ecology and impacts of the roughly 45 ant species introduced to Hawaii, and their implications for agriculture, other sectors of the economy, and the conservation of native biodiversity, are reviewed (abstract with link to full article).

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The Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk (HEAR) project is currently funded by the Pacific Basin Information Node (PBIN) of the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) through PIERC (USGS) with support from HCSU (UH-Hilo). More details are available online.

The template for this page was created on 15 March 2004 by EMS, and was last updated on 20 February 2006 by PT. The content of this page was last regenerated on (or after) 28 March 2008 by PT.