African Acacia Ant vs Bicolored Pennant Ant

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute African Acacia Ant Bicolored Pennant Ant
Scientific Name Pseudomyrmex sp. (African mimic: Tetraponera penzigi) Tetraponera rufonigra
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Formicidae Formicidae
Size 3-6 mm 6-10 mm
Habitat Grasslands Forests
Diet Gall Makers Nectar Feeders
Regions East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania India, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

African Acacia Ant

A slender ant inhabiting the swollen galls of whistling thorn acacias in East Africa. Multiple ant species compete for occupation of these trees in a well-studied ecological system.

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Did You Know?

Four different ant species compete for whistling thorn acacias, with each species altering tree growth in different ways.

Bicolored Pennant Ant

A large, slender arboreal ant with a painful sting found across tropical Asia. Workers are bicolored with an orange head and thorax and a black gaster. They nest in hollow twigs and bamboo stems and are agile jumpers.

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Did You Know?

Their sting is notoriously painful and is compared to a wasp sting, unusual for such a slender ant.