Anoplolepis
Species accounts
Anoplolepis gracilipes
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| Yellow Crazy Ants, Anoplolepis gracilipes with some planthoppers. |
The Yellow Crazy Ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes Smith 1857 (subfamily Formicinae) is considered to be a tramp ant. A tramp ant is one which is very widespread because of its life history characteristics. One example would be that it is polydomous, where ants from different nests can intermingle, thus allowing high densities of ants to live together.
These ants are able to occupy niches within the humid, tropical areas, these ants are pretty conspicuous. Their common name, the Yellow Crazy Ant is indicative of its quick and fast movements when disturbed. On certain islands, these ants are known to dominate and cause certain native species to be affected. One such example is on Christmas Islands, possibly fuelled by biotic interactions with planthoppers.
It is likely that these ants originated from Asia or Africa, its origins are unclear at the moment.
Just as a note: there are only nine species within the genera Anoplolepis.
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