Paratrechina longicornis

Paratrechina longicornis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Lasiini
Genus:	Paratrechina
Species:	P. longicornis
Binomial name
	Paratrechina longicornis; (Latreille, 1802) Specimen Label
Synonyms
	Formica gracilescens Nylander, 1856; Formica vagans Jerdon, 1851; Paratrechina currens Motschoulsky, 1863; Prenolepis longicornis hagemanni Forel, 1901;

Common Name

Crazy Ant
Language:	English

Higenaga-ameiro-ari
Language:	Japanese

This ant has been transported to almost all the populated subtropical and tropical areas in the world. It is usually in disturbed areas but can invade undisturbed areas as well. It is a general scavenger and also tends honeydew-producing Homoptera. Nests are in accumulations of dry litter or mulch or under objects on the ground.

At a Glance

• Highly invasive • Polygynous • Supercolonies • Parthenogenetic

Photo Gallery

Paratrechina longicornis worker interacting with a male. Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Photo by Yathumon M A.
Paratrechina longicornis worker interacting with a male. Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Photo by Yathumon M A.

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

A common tramp ant that has been spread to most of the world's subtropical and tropical areas with substantial human populations.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 17.201° to -33.93333°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Benin, Cameroun, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Saint Helena, Senegal (type locality), Socotra Archipelago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen.
Australasian Region: Australia, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island.
Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Brunei Darussalam, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Indonesia, Kiribati, Krakatau Islands, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), New Guinea, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
Malagasy Region: Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Réunion, Seychelles.
Nearctic Region: United States.
Neotropical Region: Anguilla, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Galapagos Islands, Greater Antilles, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Lesser Antilles, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Venezuela.
Oriental Region: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, Nicobar Island, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.
Palaearctic Region: Bahrain, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Canary Islands, China, Estonia, France, Iberian Peninsula, Iran, Israel, Japan, Libya, Malta, Oman, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

San Cristóbal, República Dominicana. Video by Judá Isaí Martínez Uribe.

Sharaf et al. (2017) report on this species in Yemen: The known habitats of this species are diverse, no doubt enabling its wide distribution. We observed Paratrechina longicornis nesting in moist soil under a rock adjacent to a date palm tree. Another nest was collected from dry soil under shrub Frangula alnus Mill. (Rhamnaceae). Many workers were found in leaf litter under a date palm tree where the soil was moist and rich in accumulated sheep and goat faeces. Several workers were foraging in leaf litter on dry soil under an Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter (Poaceae) tree, where the soil was dry. A nest was observed under a rock in moist, compacted, clay soil. Hundreds of workers were foraging in moist leaf litter and on twigs of a small shrub. Several workers were nesting under a stone in humid soil and next to banana plantations. A nest was found under a rock next to a dragon blood tree, Dracaena cinnabari Balf.f. (Asparagaceae). This species has been reported as a pest in greenhouses in both temperate and tropical regions (Nylander 1856; Motschoulsky 1863).

Bertelsmeier et al. (2015) examined elements of interspecific aggression between this species and several other highly invasive ants. In laboratory assays Paratrechina longicornis was adept at avoiding aggressive interactions. When confronted by workers of other invasive ant species P. longicornis either acted indifferently or moved away.

Florida (USA) - Introduced into Florida and found as far north and west as Leon County, but much commoner in south Florida. Pest status: a minor nuisance in outdoor eating areas, and frequently enters buildings where there is easy access to the outside. First published Florida record: Smith 1930. (Deyrup, Davis & Cover, 2000.)

In Benin, Taylor et al. (2018) found this species in mango (Mangifera indica) orchards cohabiting with Oecophylla longinoda and running on the trunk of Terminalia catappa.

Foraging

McCreery et al. (2019) tested movement initiation and obstacle navigation in group foraging. Baits of various sizes were used, with testing conducted in the field in Tempe, Arizona. They found P. longicornis excel at cooperative transport despite wide load variation. The effects of load properties vary across transport challenges, and groups struggling to move large loads may find obstacle navigation easier once a load has begun to be moved.

Nesting Habits

Jaffe (1993) reported that at low tide on the beaches of Mumbai, India, hundreds of meters of new coast are exposed, filled with marine debris and human detritus. In this area, some 100 m from the high tide line, he found colonies of Paratrechina longicornis nesting in the sand and foraging on the debris around their nest up to 25 m away. Nest density was very high (estimated in over 1 nest/ m²), although as colonies are known to be polydomic and all nests likely formed a single colony. These ants have to hide in their nests at high tide, which probably are protected from flooding thanks to trapped air in their galleries.

Chemical Ecology

LeBrun et al. (2015) found a behaviour, first noted and resulting from interactions between Solenopsis invicta and Nylanderia fulva, that detoxifies fire ant venom is expressed widely across ants in the subfamily Formicinae. This behavior was also studied and shown in experiments with P. longicornis. See the biology section of the N. fulva page for a description of acidopore grooming and the use of formic acid for detoxification of a specific class of venoms that are produced by ants that may interact with formicines in the context of predation and food competition.

Flight Period

					X	X
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: antkeeping.info.

Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.
Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Association with Other Organisms

Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

This species is a mutualist for the aphid Aphis coreopsidis (a trophobiont) (Favret et al., 2010; Saddiqui et al., 2019).
This species is a mutualist for the aphid Aphis craccivora (a trophobiont) (Shiran et al., 2013; Rakhshan and Ahmad, 2015; Saddiqui et al., 2019).
This species is a mutualist for the aphid Aphis gossypii (a trophobiont) (Idechiil et al., 2007; Lokeshwari et al., 2015; Saddiqui et al., 2019).
This species is a host for the cricket Myrmecophilus americanus (a myrmecophile).
This species is a prey for the tiger beetle Cicindela duponti (a predator) in Western Ghats, India (Sinu et al., 2006).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Absidia corymbifera (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Acremonium sp. (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Aspergillus candidus (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Aspergillus ochraceus (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Aspergillus versicolor (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Cladosporium sp. (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Cunninghamella equinalata (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Cunninghamella polymorpha (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Geotrichum sp. (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Penicillium sp. (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a host for the fungus Aspergillus flavus (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission within nest).
This species is a host for the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission within nest).

Life History Traits

Queen number: polygynous (Holldobler & Wilson, 1977; Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)

Castes

Worker


.

Queen

Images from AntWeb


Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0101797. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.


Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0132425. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.


Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0137340. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.


Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0173230. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CDRS, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Male

Images from AntWeb


Male (alate). Specimen code casent0173231. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CDRS, Galapagos, Ecuador.


Male (alate). Specimen code casent0137341. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Additional images can be found here.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

longicornis. Formica longicornis Latreille, 1802c: 113 (w.) SENEGAL. Jerdon, 1851: 124 (q.); André, 1881b: 60 (m.); Hung, Imai & Kubota, 1972: 1024 (k.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1986d: 336 (l.); Fox, et al. 2007: 3 (l.). Combination in Prenolepis: Roger, 1863b: 10; in Pr. (Nylanderia): Emery, 1910a: 129; in Paratrechina: Wheeler, W.M. 1921e: 112. Senior synonym of currens: Emery, 1892b: 166; of gracilescens: Roger, 1863b: 10; of vagans: Dalla Torre, 1893: 179. Senior synonym of hagemanni: LaPolla, Brady & Shattuck, 2010a: 128. See also: Mayr, 1865: 50; Forel, 1891b: 81; Forel, 1894c: 406; Emery, 1910a: 129; Trager, 1984b: 153.
vagans. Formica vagans Jerdon, 1851: 124 (w.q.) INDIA. [Unresolved junior primary homonym of Formica vagans Olivier, 1792: 501.] Junior synonym of longicornis: Dalla Torre, 1893: 179; Forel, 1894c: 408.
gracilescens. Formica gracilescens Nylander, 1856a: xxviii (w.) FRANCE. [Also described as new by Nylander, 1856b: 73.] Junior synonym of longicornis: Roger, 1863b: 10.
currens. Paratrechina currens Motschoulsky, 1863: 14 (w.) SRI LANKA. Junior synonym of longicornis: Emery, 1892b: 166. Neotype designated: LaPolla, Brady & Shattuck, 2010b: 1.
hagemanni. Prenolepis longicornis var. hagemanni Forel, 1901h: 65 (w.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. Combination in Paratrechina: Emery, 1925b: 217. Junior synonym of longicornis: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 942. Revived from synonymy: Emery, 1925b: 217. Junior synonym of longicornis: LaPolla, Brady & Shattuck, 2010a: 128.

Type Material

Formica longicornis: Syntype, worker(s), Senegal.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

LaPolla et al. (2013) - Measurements in millimeters (n=4): TL: 2.1- 2.5; HW: 0.46-56; HL: 0.49-0.7; EL: 0.17-0.23; SL: 0.98-1.16; PW: 0.34-0.43; WL: 0.82-0.98; PrFL: 0.6-0.9; GL: 0.83-0.9. Indices: CI: 73-94; REL2: 38-42 ; SI: 182-226.

Overall coloration pale to very dark brown, often with a distinct blueish iridescent sheen, especially on the mesosoma and gaster. Mandibles, antennae and legs (especially the trochanters of all legs, which are a strongly contrasting very pale yellow-brown) much lighter in color; cuticle smooth and moderately shining with faint shagreenate sculpture, which is most obvious on head and gaster. Head narrow, distinctly longer than broad, with abundant pale (yellow-brown to almost white), erect macrosetae; anterior clypeal margin with a shallow medial indentation; scapes with a dense layer of very fine pubescence but lacking erect macrosetae; eyes large and convex, extending beyond head lateral margin in full frontal view; posterior head margin with rounded posterolateral corners; three distinct ocelli present. Mesosoma with scattered pale erect macrosetae (PSC = 3; MSC = 3-4); in profile pronotum and mesonotum almost flat dorsally, with a broadly angled junction; metanotal area relatively indistinct, medially about 1/5 the length of the mesonotum but longer laterally than medially; dorsum of propodeum almost flat to very shallowly domed, rounding evenly into the short declivitious face; anterolateral portion of dorsal face with some scattered pubescence. Gaster with abundant erect pale macrosetae.

Karyotype

n = 8, 2n = 16, karyotype = 14M+2A (India) (Imai et al., 1984).
n = 16 (Indonesia) (Imai et al., 1985).
2n = 16 (Taiwan) (Hung et al., 1972).

References

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