42 replies to this topic

[Serafine]

Really depends on the ecosystem in question, not every ant does the same damage in every place.

Hawaii made such a hype about Wasmannia auropunctata because the species could have made farming literally impossible. They love to climb on trees but are really [censored] climbers, so every time you try to pick some fruit you get showered by thousands of tiny stinging ants.

 

One of the species i haven't seen mentioned here yet is Anoplolepis gracilipes (yellow crazy ants), they are on the top 100 worst invasive organisms list, they wipe out entire island ecosystems particularly in the pacific, where they not just eliminiate breeding bird colonies in their entirety but are also doing a really job making a lot of endemic animals like christmas island's famous red crabs go extinct.

[Stubyvast]

So according to the sheer amount of space these ants have taken over, here are the top three (I picked the ones that everyone else picked to compare, and show the rankings based on that.)

So in first place, having a presence in about 85% (a very rough estimate) of the Earth's landmass, is the Pharaoh ant, Monomorium pharaonis. They live pretty much in most places. 

In second place, we have the Argentine ant, or Linepithema humile. They have taken over a ton of countries, and are known for their ability to form super colonies, which is definitely an advantage for them.

And third, Solenopsis invicta, or the RIFA (red imported fire ant), which actually hasn't been seen in quite a few countries, but is VERY prolific, with their brutal stings and reproduction speed. 

It should be noted that Anoplolepis gracilipes is, yes, also very prolific, and have spread about the same amount as RIFA, according to ant maps, anyways.

 

It should also be noted that technically ants don't regard borders as anything, so there's probably the occasional colony in another country. 

Edited by Stubyvast, June 25 2024 - 9:14 AM.

[AntidepressAnt]

I've been reading about Trichomyrmex destructor (Monomorium destructor in older literature), and though it hasn't had the kind of ecological impact many other invasive ants had, I think that this may well be the most noxious ant pest of all from the point of view of human beings living in infested areas. They will chew through a wide range of materials, destroy electrical equipment and attack people and animals. And unlike most ants, they will attack without obvious provocation - accounts of people being stung while sleeping are common. This is from antwiki.org:

Wetterer (2009) reported:

"In the past, T. destructor was primarily spread by ship. For example, CLARKE (1922) reported T. destructor was a serious problem on steamers traveling between California and the East Coast US via Panama Canal, writing that T. destructor "not only caused a considerable pecuniary loss in the destruction of food stuffs but attacked passengers and crew… They would find their way in small or large numbers into the beds and their bites were very painful." WEBER (1939) found live T. destructor in his luggage in Massachusetts several days after returning from Cuba by ship. Now, air travel, combined with the ant's propensity of nesting in electrical and electronic equipment, allows the possible spread of T. destructor to virtually anywhere in the world. For example, ENGST (2005) reported that, on arrival in New Zealand, an air passenger found T. destructor living inside a sealed iPod bought in the air-port in Fiji.

I found many reports of T. destructor destroying property and attacking people. For example, STONEY (1995) wrote that in Western Australia, T. destructor "has been known to chomp through a grown man's thong overnight and chew up anything from polystyrene cups to wiring in cars, telephones and houses... The insect has even nibbled on newborn babies sleeping in their cots and left big holes in car tyres. 'Kids are virtually being eaten alive while they sleep at night,' the Derby shire president, Mr. Peter McCumstie, said." CHIN (1998) wrote how in Darwin, Australia, T. destructor "can cause havoc in the household since they bite and may occur almost everywhere inside the house, feeding on a wide variety of food materials. They frequently nest in power sockets and chew on electrical wiring and in some cases have started electrical fires." In the community of Nguiu on Bathurst Island, Australia, B. Hoffmann investigated an enormous outbreak of T. destructor (CSIRO 2003). Hoffmann reported, "The magnitude of damage is really overwhelming… There were massive trails going into houses from all directions – millions and millions of Singapore ants [T. destructor] swarming everywhere. These ants get into power points, they eat electrical wiring and short circuit the power – two houses have already burned down recently because of damage caused to electrical systems (ANONYMOUS 2003). On Tobi Island and Helen Reef Atoll in Palau, BOUDJELAS (2006) reported that T. destructor was a serious threat to essential infrastructure and "causes extensive economic damage in human settlements by damaging fabric and rubber goods and removing insulation from electric cables." LEE & al. (2002) found that in surveys of food preparation outlets on Penang Island, Malaysia, T. destructor was the dominant ant species, making up 27.8% of the ant specimens collected.

In the Dry Tortugas, the outermost of the Florida Keys, MAYOR (1922) reported that T. destructor on Loggerhead Key was "a great pest in the wooden buildings of Tortugas Laboratory, making its nests in crevices of the woodwork. So voracious are these insects that we are obliged to swing our beds from the rafters and to paint the ropes with a solution of corrosive sublimate, while all tables must have tape soaked in corrosive sublimate wrapped around their legs if ants are to be excluded from them. These pests have the habit of biting out small pieces of skin, and I have seen them kill within 24 hours rats which were confined in cages." At Tortugas Laboratory, "one of the scientists, a newcomer who allowed his sheet to touch the floor, was stung so badly by a swarm of them that he lapsed into unconsciousness for a while" (STEPHENS & CALDER 2006). The Tortugas Laboratory buildings were later abandoned and torn down. Remarkably, no subsequent collector found T. destructor on Loggerhead Key (WETTERER & O'HARA 2002). Elsewhere in the Florida Keys, DEYRUP (1991) wrote that T. destructor "is spectacularly common on Key West." In a recent visit to Key West, however, I was unable to find any T. destructor. Instead, all areas where I collected on Key West were dominated by Pheidole megacephala and/or Solenopsis invicta (J.K. Wetterer, unpubl.).

Edited by AntidepressAnt, June 27 2024 - 7:18 AM.