Electric ant
Encyclopedia
The electric ant, also known as the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, is a tiny (approx 1.5 mm long), light to golden brown (ginger) social
ant
native to Central and South America, now spread to parts of Africa (including Gabon
and Cameroon
), North America, Puerto Rico
, Israel
, and six Pacific Island groups (including the Galápagos Islands
, Hawaii
, New Caledonia
and the Solomon Islands
) plus north-eastern Australia (Cairns
),
The name, electric ant (or little fire ant) derives from the ant's painful sting relative to its size. This ant's impact in those environments and countries outside of its place of origin has been described as follows:
There are some parts of the world where the Electric Ants may not be regarded as threat, but rather its spread may be encouraged because it preys on and thus helps control other herbivorous pests.
In W. auropunctata, the males and females have been shown to reproduce clonally.
Recent epidemiologic work tend to prove that there is a strong suspicion of a link between Florida keratopathy
or Tropical keratopthy and presence of W. auropunctata.
Eusociality
Eusociality is a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification....
ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
native to Central and South America, now spread to parts of Africa (including Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
and Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
), North America, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and six Pacific Island groups (including the Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
and the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
) plus north-eastern Australia (Cairns
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
),
The name, electric ant (or little fire ant) derives from the ant's painful sting relative to its size. This ant's impact in those environments and countries outside of its place of origin has been described as follows:
Wasmannia auropunctata .. is blamed for reducing species diversity, reducing overall abundance of flying and tree-dwelling insects, and eliminating arachnidArachnidArachnids are a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, although in some species the front pair may convert to a sensory function. The term is derived from the Greek words , meaning "spider".Almost all extant arachnids are terrestrial...
populations. It is also known for its painful stings. On the Galápagos, it eats the hatchlings of tortoises and attacks the eyes and cloacae of the adult tortoiseTortoiseTortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
s. It is considered to be perhaps the greatest ant species threat in the Pacific region.
There are some parts of the world where the Electric Ants may not be regarded as threat, but rather its spread may be encouraged because it preys on and thus helps control other herbivorous pests.
Description
A more detailed description of this ant species, courtesy of the Global Invasive Species database reads as follows:
"..Wasmannia auropunctata workers are monomorphic, which means they display no physical differentiation... The ants are typically small to medium-sized, with the workers ranging from 1-2mm ... [It] is light to golden brown in color. The gasterGasterThe gaster is the bulbous posterior portion of the metasoma found in Apocrita Hymenoptera . This begins with abdominal segment III on most ants, but some make a postpetiole out of segment III, in which case the gaster begins with abdominal segment IV....
is often darker. The pedicelPetiole (insect)In entomology, the term petiole is most commonly used to refer to the constricted first metasomal segment of members of the Hymenopteran suborder Apocrita; it may be used to refer to other insects with similar body shapes, where the metasomal base is constricted...
, between the thoraxThoraxThe thorax is a division of an animal's body that lies between the head and the abdomen.-In tetrapods:...
and gaster, has two segments; the petiolePetiole (insect)In entomology, the term petiole is most commonly used to refer to the constricted first metasomal segment of members of the Hymenopteran suborder Apocrita; it may be used to refer to other insects with similar body shapes, where the metasomal base is constricted...
and postpetiole. The petiole is "hatchet-like", with a node that is almost rectangular in profile and higher than the postpetiole. The antennaeAntenna (biology)Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....
have 11 segments, with the last two segments greatly enlarged into a distinct club. The antennal scape (the first segment) is received into a distinct groove (scrobe) that extends almost to the posterior border of the head. The thorax has long and sharp epinotal spines. The body is sparsely covered with long, erect hairs. This species is well-known for a painful sting, seemingly out of proportion to its size."
In W. auropunctata, the males and females have been shown to reproduce clonally.
Recent epidemiologic work tend to prove that there is a strong suspicion of a link between Florida keratopathy
Florida keratopathy
Florida keratopathy is an eye condition characterized by the presence of multiple spots within both corneas. It is most commonly seen in dogs and cats, but is also rarely seen in horses and birds. In the United States, Florida keratopathy is found in animals in the southeastern part of the country...
or Tropical keratopthy and presence of W. auropunctata.