Formic Acid

The Latin word for ants is formica and that’s how formic acid got its name. Almost 300 species of ants produce formic acid.

European wood ants spray formic acid at predators to protect or disinfect their nests. Some birds sit on wood ant nests to provoke these attacks on purpose. Formic acid bath is an insecticide that can kill the bird’s parasites. Wood ants use their formic acid as an antimicrobial agent by mixing it with tree resins that possess anti-fungal properties.

Yellow crazy ants also spray formic acid to blind and kill their prey. An individual yellow crazy ant is tiny, but when they attack as a swarm, they can easily kill larger animals like lizards, turtle hatchlings, bird chicks and small mammals.

Another species, called tawny crazy ants, use formic acid to neutralise the alkaloid venom of their mortal enemies, the fire ants. The tawny crazy ants take up formic acid from their own sting and then use this to groom themselves are a fire ant has attacked.