Yellow Crazy Ant Community Action

26/05/2026

Don’t forget the Electric Ant Blitz is this weekend 30-31 May! It’s not too late to book your free yard check, perfect timing as we wave goodbye 👋 to the wet season.

14/05/2026

It’s important we all do our part to stop the spread of invasive ants. This includes “Come clean, Leave clean” for shoes, vehicles and outdoor gear.

⚠️ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 ⚠️

Yellow crazy ants have been detected along the 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 and the 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸.

This popular hiking trail connects the Gillies Range to the Atherton Tablelands and we urge all visitors to remain highly vigilant when travelling through the area.

Please 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝘀𝗼𝗶𝗹, 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 from the area, as yellow crazy ants can easily nest inside these materials and be accidentally spread to new locations.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮:

👉check footwear, gear, and equipment before leaving

🌱avoid disturbing vegetation or moving materials

📞 report any suspected yellow crazy ants to 07 4241 0525.

Yellow crazy ants are golden-brown, between 3mm - 4mm long, with long legs and antennae. When disturbed, they move in a frantic, erratic manner.

Thank you for your support. Community awareness and vigilance are critical for detecting new infestations and stopping the spread of invasive ants 🐜

12/05/2026

The Electric Ant Blitz is coming!
🐜 Pre-book your free yard check and help us protect Kuranda, Speewah and Koah from some of the worst invasive species on the planet!

03/05/2026

Invasive ants are a serious threat to our beautiful butterflies!
🦋 Did you know that many Lycaenidae butterflies (those little blues you see flying around) rely on our native ants for protection of their young? Their caterpillars have a gland that releases sugar to feed the ants. Read more here: https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/lycaenid-butterflies-and-ants/.
🐜 Ants may be small (and yes, let’s admit, sometimes annoying) but they are very important to the whole environment!
✅ You can help our butterflies by helping our ants - Book your free annual yard check at https://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/biosecurity/invasive-plants-animals/ants/yard-check

Lycaenid butterflies and ants

26/04/2026

Come clean & Go clean - Good advice from Biosecurity QLD! Help stop the spread of invasive ants, weeds and diseases whenever you travel.

22/04/2026

The key to eradication is consistent funding. Go fast, go hard, and we see great results.

A massive achievement in Far North Queensland! The Wet Tropics Management Authority has announced that a total of 1,255 hectares is now free of yellow crazy ants.

The Invasive Species Council is proud to have long advocated for funding for this important program. But we still need long-term federal support to ensure these sites are not reinfested. 🐜🐜

As it stands, the Queensland government has committed to funding yellow crazy ant eradication until 2028, but the Australian Government are dragging their feet.

Our Advocacy Director Reece Pianta spoke to Yahoo News about some of the consequences if critical support isn’t secured.

‘The program's approaching the halfway mark, and it's working,’ he said.

‘Ten years ago, when I was up there, yellow crazy ants had turned the rainforest around Kuranda silent…they displaced native bird life and insects and wrecked ecosystems.

‘So if there isn’t more federal government funding in the May budget, then the program will effectively be cut in half….If funding runs out, and staff need to be stood down, treatments over the next few years will be reduced.

‘[Yellow crazy ants] form supercolonies with multiple queens and can move into a landscape and just dominate it…so the local wildlife flees, and it destroys the ecosystems of those areas, and they become a dominant invasive species.

‘It would be worse than standing still — the program would actually go backwards, and all of the hard-won gains, the hectares that have been cleared, would be reinfested.

‘This is a small amount of money that is protecting a vital ecosystem, and it’s essential that this funding continues.’

20/04/2026

Great news for Bentley Park!

The Wet Tropics Management Authority today declared a further 180 hectares free of yellow crazy ants– another milestone achievement for its world-leading Eradication Program. 79 of those hectares were in Bentley Park, making the suburb yellow crazy ant free.

Congratulations to all the staff who have worked so hard, often in challenging conditions to reach this achievement. Yellow crazy ants may be small creatures, but they can have devastating impacts on wildlife, agriculture, and even
the tourism industry.

Wet Tropics World Heritage Area

03/04/2026

Yes we will be at the Koah Monthly Market on Easter Saturday! Stop by to check out LIVE invasive ants or pick up a native plant.

04/03/2026

New Electric Ant detections in TOTR, Myola and Koah!

Remember you can check the public maps and book your FREE annual yard check at AntZone:

20/02/2026

Volunteers needed to help with market stalls!
Can you spare 1 hour on a Saturday or Sunday morning? We talk with locals about invasive ants along with our 'parent' organisation Kuranda Kuranda EnviroCare.
First market is on Sat 7 March!