Classification: | Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Arthropoda | Class: Insecta | Order: Hymenoptera | Family: Formicidae | Genus: Anoplolepis |

The ants and their collections:

The ants taking care of mealybugs on the Cocoa fruit (Theobroma cacao).

They also attend to the leafhoppers and their nymphs.

The ants attending to jumping plant louse's nymphs on a Jackfruit Tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus) and aphids on a Calamansi shrub (Citrus microcarpa).

This ant might be confused with the Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina), which is larger in size and extremely ferocious. Yellow Crazy Ant does not bite or at least its jaw is not able to cause harm to human being. On the other hand, the bite from the Weaver Ant is painful. In addition, the nest of the Yellow Crazy Ant is usually on the ground while that of the Weaver Ant is normally above ground constructed by pulling together leaves on plants.

Yellow Crazy Ant was well-known as the culprit behind the disruption of Christmas Island's ecosystem such as killing of the island's beloved red land crabs. The accidental introduction of the ants to the island was estimated to be between 1915 and 1934 [1].

Reference:

[1] Stork NE, Kitching1 RL, Davis NE, Abbott KL. The impact of aerial baiting for control of the yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on canopy-dwelling arthropods and selected vertebrates on Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) | Read article |