Native Species Displacement by Invasive Alien Species Yellow Crazy Ant: Anoplolepis gracilipes (Smith 1857) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Invasive alien species yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes have been observed in huge number within the Berhamapur Univeristy Campus, Ganjam, Odisha since 2015. This piece of work was undertaken to know the impact of this species on the native ants and other small crawling invertebrates. For better precise identification of this ant, its COI gene sequencing and molecular phylogeny analysis was also carried out. The pit fall traps were applied both in the invasive area and nearby non-invasive area in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period during 2018–19. The results showed very low number of native ant species and other crawling invertebrates in the invasive area as compared to the nearby non-invasive area, which indicates displacement of native species by the yellow crazy ant.