![]() ![]() Little fire ant workers are tiny! (© Alex Wild)īack to top Impacts of the little fire ant SocialĪs well as nesting outside, the little fire ant also nests indoors, allowing it to sting people in their homes. Little fire ant workers surrounding their much larger queen (© Alex Wild) PIAkey: Wasmannia auropunctata (see diagnostic characters tab) That is how tiny these ants are! (© Eli Sarnat, Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike CC BY-SA Licence)įor detailed descriptions and identification of little fire ants please see: Note that unlike the other video, the scale bar on the left is in millimetres. Little fire ants foraging in Hawaii, Vimeo video. Little fire ants foraging on peanut butter in the Solomon Islands, Vimeo video (© Eli Sarnat, Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike CC BY-SA Licence) The pupae develop for 11-12 days, then emerge as adults. ![]() Larvae develop for 16-18 days before becoming pupae. Eggs take 8-10 days to hatch into larvae. In Wallis and Futuna, non-clonal populations of little fire ant have declined substantially.ĭevelopment: little fire ants have a shorter development time than some of the other worst 5 invasive ants. As clonal populations of this ant are more prevalent in the introduced range, this reproductive mode may contribute to invasion success. the offspring are identical to the parent and sexual reproduction does not occur) is found in some populations, while other populations reproduce sexually. Reproduction: little fire ants have two types of reproduction. Global distribution of the little fire ant (© Pacific Biosecurity) Rate of spread: 73 m/year in Gabon, 170-500 m/year in the Galapagos depending on rainfall.ĭistribution: see our invasive ant distributions page for details of the worldwide distribution of the little fire ant. The little fire ant has also been found nesting in floating vegetation and logs during floods. Nests may be found in spaces between plants and soil, under piles of leaves, in leaf axils, under stones or in rotten logs, under rubbish, in tree crotches and clumps of grass. Habitat and nesting: little fire ants nest in trees and on the ground, particularly in disturbed environments. This ant forms 3-dimensional colonies (on ground and covering vegetation including large trees). General description: this is a very tiny ant! To the unaided eye, it will just appear as a moving orange dot. Little fire ants swarming on a rock (© Forest and Kim Starr, Plants of Hawaii) You are here: About the PIAT» Problem ants» 5 worst threat ants to the Pacific» Little fire ant Little fire antĬlose up of a little fire ant worker (© Eli Sarnat, Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike CC BY-SA Licence) ![]()
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