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''N. fulva'' has been a pest in rural and urban areas of [[Colombia]], South America, where it displaced all other ant species. There, small poultry such as chickens, have died of asphyxiation, while larger animals, such as cattle, have been attacked around the eyes, nostrils, and hooves. Grasslands have dried out because of the increase in plant-sucking insect pests ([[hemiptera]]ns), which the ants cultivate to feed on the sugary "honeydew" that they excrete.<ref name="TX A&M"/>
When attacked, these ant, like other [[Formicinae|formicine ants]], can bite but not sting, and excrete formic acid through a hairy circle or [[acidopore]] on the end of the abdomen, using it as a venom, which causes a minute pain that quickly fades. Formic acid was named after the Latin word ''formica'' (ant), because it was first distilled from ants in the 17th century.<ref name=C&EN>{{cite journal|last=Everts|first=Sarah|title=An
Tawny crazy ants were found to displace other ant species in their native Argentina and later the US, including the red imported fire ant.<ref name="origin is south america"/> This was first thought to be due to exploitative and interference [[competition (biology)|competition]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/pdf/McDonald%202012.pdf |title=Investigation of an invasive ant species: ''Nylanderia fulva'' colony extraction, management, diet preference, fecundity, and mechanical vector potential |author=Danny Lee McDonald |date=December 2012 |website=aglifesciences.tamu.edu |publisher= |access-date=19 November 2018 |quote=}}</ref>
===Formic acid as an antidote to fire ant venom===
In March 2014, researchers concluded that formic acid helped tawny crazy ants survive fire ant venom in ant fights 98% of the time; when the gland ducts were blocked with nail polish in an experiment, crazy ants had only a 48% chance of surviving fights with fire ants.<ref name=lebrun /> After exposure to fire ant venom, ''N. fulva'' retreats, covers itself with formic acid<ref name="sciencedaily.com">{{cite web|publisher=ScienceDaily|author=University of Texas at Austin|date=February 13, 2014|title=Crazy ants dominate fire ants by neutralizing their venom|accessdate= 16 February 2014|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140213142233.htm}}</ref> and returns to the fight.<ref name=lebrun /> This is the first known example of an insect detoxifying another insect's venom, and the first discovery of an [[ionic liquid]] in nature<ref>{{Cite journal
How formic acid acts as an antidote against the much more toxic fire ant's venom is unknown. Fire ant venom is a mixture of toxic [[alkaloid]]s and proteins that presumably enable the alkaloids to enter rival ants’ cells.<ref name="C&EN"/> Each alkaloid in the fire ant’s venom, including [[solenopsin]], has a six-membered [[Heterocyclic compound|heterocyclic ring]] with fat-soluble side chains.<ref name= C&EN /> The researchers who discovered the antidote property of formic acid in crazy ants speculate that the formic acid [[Denaturation (biochemistry)|denatures]] the proteins in fire ant venom.<ref name=lebrun /> Another possibility is that the nitrogen on an alkaloid’s heterocyclic ring is [[protonate]]d, rendering the ionic molecule less [[Lipophilicity|lipophilic]], thus less likely to penetrate the tawny crazy ant’s cells.<ref name= C&EN />
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==Range in the United States==
[[Image:Reported distribution of the Rasberry Crazy Ant in the United States - journal.pone.0045314.g001.png|right|thumb|Reported distribution of the Rasberry crazy ant in the United States (2012); actual occurrence is thought to be more widespread]]
The earliest record of ''N. fulva'' presence in the US is from [[Brownsville, Texas]], in 1938.<ref>http://gap.entclub.org/taxonomists/Trager/1984b.pdf</ref> By the early 2000s, the ants spread across the southeastern portion of Texas<ref name="Gotzek"/> including at more than 27 counties<ref name=TX /> Large population explosions have been described also on St Croix in the US Virgin Islands; in many cases the ant species was misidentified as its close relative, the hairy crazy ant, ''[[Nylanderia pubens]].''<ref name=Ayres>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3941545.ece|title=Billions of electronic-eating 'crazy Rasberry ants' invade Texas|first=Chris|last=Ayres|publisher=Times UK|date=2008-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wetterer|first1=James K.|last2=Keularts|first2=Jozef L. W.|title=Population explosion of the hairy crazy ant, Paratrechina pubens (hymenoptera: formicidae), on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands|journal=Florida Entomologist|date=September 2008|volume=91|issue=3|pages=423–427|url=http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/75828/73486|doi=10.1653/0015-4040(2008)91[423:peothc]2.0.co;2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/breaking-news/crazy-ants-the-ants-that-eat-electronics-march-int/nZ3zy/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054229/http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/breaking-news/crazy-ants-the-ants-that-eat-electronics-march-int/nZ3zy/|title=
</ref><ref name="map">{{cite web|url=http://ant-maps.com/Crazy-Rasberry-ant.htm|title=Ccrazy Rasberry ant|publisher=Ant-maps.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801132735/http://ant-maps.com/Crazy-Rasberry-ant.htm|author= Arjan van den Bosch|archivedate=1 August 2009|work=web.archive.org|accessdate=15 December 2018}}</ref> As of 2012, the ants have established colonies in all states of the [[Gulf Coast of the United States]].<ref name="origin is south america"/><ref name="Gotzek"/> The ant is considered an [[invasive species]].<ref name="TX A&M">{{cite web|url=https://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/urban-pests/ants/rasberry/|author=|title=Tawny (Rasberry) Crazy Ant. ''Nylanderia fulva''|publisher=Texas A&M, Department of Entomology, Center for Urban & StructuralEntomology| accessdate=2013-05-21}}</ref>
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