Species Info General

Other common names include: Techno Ants

White-footed Ants are medium-sized black ants commonly found upon vegetation in disturbed habitats ranging from scrubby open areas and urban yards to forested areas dominated by non-native trees.  Writing about these ants in Hawaiʻi, Huddleston & Fluker (1968) stated that they are “Nowhere very abundant, usually found in areas having more than 60 inches of rainfall.  Often numerous in forested areas from 1000 to 5000 ft elevation.”  Some might say that that is a misleading statement (or that things have changed in the ensuing years) as today these ants are often quite abundant and readily found not far from sea level.

Deyrup, Davis & Cover (2000) wrote “Nests are in rotten wood, under loose bark on trees, in piles of debris on the ground, in ‘Spanish style’ roofs with curved tiles, and other dry sites off the ground outdoors.  It is a general scavenger and attracted to honeydew.”  Deyrup (2017) adds “Nests are concealed in mulch or debris, or above ground in trees and buildings”.  In the main office of Maui Invasive Species Committee a thriving nest was found inside a large unopened laser printer ink cartridge box.

Writing about the genus Technomyrmex in general, Bolton (2007) reported that “In certain restricted localities individuals of single Technomyrmex species may be very numerous but in general they form only a relatively minor fraction of the total local ant fauna, both in terms of number of species and number of individuals.  Locations where individuals of single species occur in huge numbers, other than when invading houses, are generally in stands or plantations of tree crops.”  Quoting an unpublished thesis by Warner (2003), Bolton (2007) reported that Technomyrmex difficilis can also be found nesting in “rain gutters, wall voids, and attics . . . [although] [n]ests tend to be found outside of structures more than inside.”