Yellow crazy ants detected near Yamba

Photo: Japanese Ant Colour Image Database 

State authorities will begin an eradication program for yellow crazy ants discovered on the State's North Coast.

The ants were found in surveillance traps at Goodwood Island Wharf on the Clarence River at Yamba.

The eradication program will focus on laying baits at the infestation site.

How the yellow crazy ants got to Goodwood Island Wharf has not been determined.

It is believed to be the first time Anoplolepis gracilipes - also known as "yellow crazy ants" - have been discovered in NSW.

While the ants are not harmful to humans, they disrupt Australia's delicate biodiversity and ecological processes through their multi-queened super-colonies. Yellow crazy ants do not sting or bite humans.

Originally from Africa and India, they have slowly spread across the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The ants are recognisable by their pale yellow body colour and unusually long legs and antennae.

The name "crazy ant" is derived from their frantic movements and frequent changes in direction, especially when disturbed.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries' Animal and Plant Biosecurity division and the Department of Environment and Conservation are handling the eradication program.

Yellow crazy ants are not considered a pest of agriculture, but pose a significant threat to biodiversity. The ants have the potential to displace native fauna and can be a nuisance because they are attracted to food scraps.

Infestations on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory in 1999, Cairns in 2001 and in Brisbane more recently, prompted locally managed control and eradication programs.

More information on crazy ants can be found on the Global Invasive Species Database.