The crazy ant It is a species native to Asia that has spread all over the world due to its great adaptability to different ecosystems. He is considered a invasive ant for it spreads like wildfire wherever it goes. Do you have any in your garden? Let’s find out.
Paratrechina longicornis is the scientific name of the crazy ant, it is believed to have originated in Asia or Africa, due to its large and rapid expansion, it is not precisely known. She is said to be mad because when she walks she does so in a wandering way, she has no fixed course but constantly goes sideways.
In addition, they move very quickly, they can form paths like other ants and also spread over the entire surface of the ground in search of food.
How to identify the crazy ant?
Besides its way of moving, Paratrechina longicorni has the elongated black body, their antennae are also very long and that is why the name longicornis means long horns. It can be found in the garden in very humid places, for example under pots, stones, cardboard, uprooted grass that you have on a mountain. By lifting the place, the ants will go terrified in all directions.
In urban areas, they are also found associated with electricity. enter through the points of sale, they move along the cables, I do not know if they can cause problems with electricity like some other species, but on one occasion I could observe how they died by the hundreds in an outlet. This catch was cleaned out every week and hundreds of them always came back dead.
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Another fact that struck me as very curious is that they use the irrigation pipes as highways to move even faster. Sometimes you put a pipe on the ground for a few seconds and it immediately filled with ants.
What does the crazy ant eat?
The question would be what does it not eat?, I have been working for a few months in a place where this ant was present. It feeds on the juices rejected by the aphids and scale insectsfeed on any insect that crosses their path, animal carcasses which are dead, juices of ripening fruits such as grapes, carambola, oranges, figs…
What problems will this cause in my garden?
During the time I was working I could observe that the crazy ant causes several problems in the garden:
- There’s no predatory insects: In plants where there should be natural predators, there are none, the reason for this is that ants scare away or feed on the predators of aphids and scale insects on which they feed. In other species of ants, they also frighten them but there are predators, in this case there is nothing on any of the plants.
- Free transport: The crazy ant transports pests from one plant to another to spread its aphid crops. Its high speed and the millions of individuals born from ants in such a short time make it a big problem. In the picture below you can see hoverfly larvae, within a week there were none left.
- Infected fruits: They get inside ripe or about to ripen fruits so that they can no longer be eaten.
- Mushrooms: Due to the large production of aphids, fungi such as bold will appear.
- It is uncomfortable to work where there is an anthill nearby because they constantly climb on their hands and feet. And if there are a lot of them on the branches, it will rain ants and it will be even more uncomfortable.
How to avoid the crazy ant?
You have to be careful with the plants that you bring back in pots or tubs from the nurseries, they like to nest in them. damp places a planter is therefore ideal for them. If you see a lot of ants coming out of the trays or pots, don’t buy them because you will bring an anthill to your garden. And this is their main means of dispersal, although often we cannot do anything because they may have arrived through a nearby public garden or the neighboring ortolan did not notice when buying.
It is currently found in the Canary Islands on all the islands, the Balearic Islands, Almería, Barcelona, Cordoba, Málaga, Murcia and Gibraltar. Although it is not excluded that there are some in other communities. If you have seen it on other sites, it would be interesting for you to post a comment to expand the list and make more people aware.
Can you fight the crazy ant?
Due to the large number of individuals per colony of these ants, it is very difficult to fight it organicallyHowever, you can try the different remedies that you can find on our website. Being a new species, there is not much knowledge on how to fight it.
In Toni’s La Huertina forum they suggested an idea that involves putting some kind of poisonous food bait in the anthills that we locate.
One method that might prove effective is using dish soap with water spray, but it cannot be applied to plants as it is harmful, perhaps using potassium soap spray is also more efficient.
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