Crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes)
Anoplolepis gracilipes · Anoplolepis
Crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes). Recorded flying in April. Dark brown to black head, dark brown mesosoma, black gaster. Queen is strikingly darker, almost black, compared to the pale yellow-orange workers, and much larger. Recorded near 2 of the 190 locations Dealate tracks.
When do crazy ants fly?
Recorded flying in April.
Flight calendar
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Queen appearance
Dark brown to black head, dark brown mesosoma, black gaster. Queen is strikingly darker, almost black, compared to the pale yellow-orange workers, and much larger.
extremely fast, erratic, frenzied movement, the trait that gives this species its 'crazy ant' name
Founding care
Fully claustral: seal her in a test tube setup, somewhere dark and undisturbed. She raises the first brood on her own wing muscles and needs no food or opening until the first workers appear.
No winter diapause needed.
Beginner · Queen ~13-16 mm
Read more on AntWiki →Care data from antkeeping.info (CC BY 4.0).
Habitat
Leaf litter · also soil · typical for this genus
Look across leaf litter and topsoil for wingless queens. After a flight, watch bare or grassy ground for wingless queens.
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