The introduced yellow crazy ant or

The introduced yellow crazy ant or long-legged ant Anoplolepis gracilipes was first reported in
Seychelles in 1969 and now occurs on at least nine islands in the Central Seychelles. We describe the
yellow crazy ant’s effects on vegetation and invertebrate communities on one of these, Bird Island; in
2000, Anoplolepis (first reported in 1991) occurred there at densities at least 80 times higher than on
other islands in the Central Seychelles. They were associated with high densities of coccid scale insects
on foliage, especially of the native tree Pisonia grandis, in some instances causing tree death. Yellow
crazy ants on Bird Island also significantly affected invertebrate communities on foliage and on the
ground, both in terms of taxonomic composition and the density of specific taxa, apparently causing the
local exclusion of some invertebrates.