The yellow-footed ant is a tiny East Asian ant, about 0.08–0.1 in (2–2.5 mm) long, that has spread widely across the eastern United States. It was first found in the U.S. in a Philadelphia park in 1939 but went unrecognized for decades.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Workers are about 0.08–0.1 in (2–2.5 mm) long, usually with an amber-yellow and a darker head and abdomen, though color varies.
Look-alikes
Woodland crazy antNylanderia faisonensis
The two are very hard to tell apart in ordinary photos; a magnified close-up is needed. Location helps: the yellow-footed ant dominates north of Washington, DC, while the woodland crazy ant still dominates farther south.
Why they get mixed upA native relative of similar size that nests in the same kinds of places.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Parks
- Woodlands
- Leaf litter
- Rotting wood
- Range
- Native to Japan, Korea, and China. In the eastern U.S. it is recorded from South Carolina north to Massachusetts, and it was first found in Ohio in 2005.
- Preferred conditions
- Nests in leaf litter, under stones, and in rotting wood.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- Winged queens and males do not swarm out all at once; they leave the nest a few at a time and mate on the ground.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
More species to explore
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