Longhorn crazy ant
| Paratrechina longicornis | |
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| Paratrechina longicornis worker | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Genus: | Paratrechina |
| Species: | P. longicornis |
| Binomial name | |
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Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The longhorn crazy ant (Paratrechina longicornis) is a species of small dark-coloured insect in the family Formicidae. These ants are commonly called "crazy ants" because instead of following straight lines, they dash around erratically. They have a broad distribution, including much of the tropics and subtropics and are also found in buildings in more temperate regions, making them one of the most widespread ant species in the world. This species, as well as all others in the ant subfamily Formicinae, cannot sting.
The worker longhorn crazy ant is about 2.3 to 3 mm (0.09 to 0.12 in) long with a brownish-black head, thorax, petiole and gaster, often with a faint blue iridescence. The body has a few short whitish bristles and the antennae and limbs are pale brown. It is easy to distinguish this ant from other members of its genus, Paratrechina, because its antennae and legs are so long. The first segment of each antenna is more than twice as long as the length between its base and the back edge of the head. The eyes are elliptical and set far back on the head. There is no sting, but the ant can bite and then curve its abdomen forwards and secrete formic acid onto the wound. A characteristic of this ant is the way that the workers move around jerkily in apparently random directions.
The Paratrechina probably originated in the tropics of Africa. It has spread to temperate regions around the world and is now present in North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australasia. It is a tropical species of ant, but because of its ability to live in disturbed and artificial habitats, inside buildings and in urban areas, it has been able to spread northwards to Estonia and Sweden and southwards to New Zealand. In the United States, it is present outdoors in much of the south east of the country and also indoors in buildings and warehouses in California, Arizona and the eastern seaboard. In tropical and subtropical areas, as well as being found in buildings it is found in gardens, coastal scrub, lowland rainforest, dry forest, savannah shrubland and by the roadside at elevations of up to 1,765 m (5,791 ft) but at an average height of 175 m (574 ft). It is considered a pest, both agricultural and domestic, in most parts of the tropics and subtropics, and an indoor pest in temperate areas. It is said to be the most widespread species of ant in the world, although the pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis) is another challenger for this position.
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Wikipedia