Overview

Introduction

Tawny crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva, is a small, reddish brown species native to South America. It has now been reported in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. This species forms extremely large super colonies and has become a serious nuisance pest. It seems to be attracted to electricity and causes damage in electrical systems. N. fulva actually displaces red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, and as well as native ant species. They are also known to transport pathogens of plants, humans, and other animals.

Appearance
The brood consists of larvae and pupae. They pupate "naked", without cocoons. Workers are small, from 0.08-0.10 in. long and reddish brown with a shiny outer casing. But they may look dull because they have dense, small fine hairs as well as much longer hairs on both the head and body. Workers of N. fulva are difficult to distinguish from N. pubens, and for accurate differentiation males are needed. Males of N. fulva have long hairs of uneven lengths and with no pattern on the borders of the genitalia. N. pubens, the hairs are arranged in a fan-like pattern. Also, N. pubens is only known from southern Florida. Males are just slightly larger than workers and queens are 0.16 in. long.

Life Cycle
Individual colonies and groups of colonies often have more than one queen. They will nest in rotting wood, soil, under mulch, under bark, in potted plants, in vehicles, in structures, and in and under various types of debris and landscape objects. Although colonies are less active during cool months, populations build rapidly in the spring and increase in size throughout the summer and fall.

Selected Images

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Invasive Listing Sources

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• To be proposed for MISC

References

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Common Name Reference: Derived from taxonomy / Generic common name

Scientific Name Reference: AntWeb, 2002-2012.