Yellow Crazy Ants

Impacts

Yellow Crazy Ants form super colonies with dense populations. The sheer number of ants overwhelm both invertebrates and vertebrates, causing a loss of biodiversity. This then causes impacts to plant populations, disrupting natural processes in environments such as pollination, seed dispersal and decomposition of organic matter.

People’s lifestyles are impacted, and pets can receive acid burns from the formic acid sprayed by Yellow Crazy Ants. Impacts include damage to household electrical appliances and wiring. Agriculture and horticulture industries are also impacted.

Description

Yellow Crazy Ants:

• are a yellow to brownish ant with long and slender body (approximately 4mm long)
• have an abdomen that is dark brown, sometimes striped
• have legs and antennae that are very long
• have an erratic walking style.

Preventing the Spread

Human-assisted spread is far more prevalent than natural spread (raft downstream, natural expansion). Yellow Crazy Ants are often unknowingly transported, commonly in freight pallets and packaging, timber products and landscaping supplies.

Help prevent the spread of Yellow Crazy Ants:

• do not sell produce or items that contain Yellow Crazy Ants
• take a close-up and clear photo and report ants suspected to be YCAs to Council
• when ordering agricultural or horticultural products, ask suppliers what invasive biosecurity matter is possible/likely to be in their products before buying, and decide for yourself whether you can deal with the biosecurity risk
• companies should develop a pest management plan relevant to biosecurity risks associated with their business
• treat areas where the risk of spread is heightened (for example, stored pallets, crushing plants, etc).

Location

Within Townsville, Yellow Crazy Ants are known to be found in:

• Alligator Creek
• Annandale
• Black River
• Brookhill
• Douglas
• Julago
• Mount Saint John
• Nome
• Oak Valley
• Stuart.