Bent-spined Acorn Ant

Temnothorax curvispinosus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Bent-spined Acorn Ant
Photo: Zachary Dankowicz, CC BY

The bent-spined acorn ant belongs to the genus Temnothorax. It is common in the eastern United States and lives in forested, rural and urban areas.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The species is a member of the genus Temnothorax.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is found in forested habitats across the eastern United States and also occurs in both rural and urban settings.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range is the eastern United States where it is common and widely distributed.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 33 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Mississippi, New York, Arkansas, Virginia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Bent-spined Acorn Ant photo 3
Photo: Zachary Dankowicz, CC BY
Bent-spined Acorn Ant photo 4
Photo: Logan Jones, CC BY
Bent-spined Acorn Ant photo 5
Photo: Robert Webster, CC BY-SA
Bent-spined Acorn Ant photo 6
Photo: Sarah Abbate, CC BY

Same family (Formicidae)

Eastern Black Carpenter AntEastern Black Carpenter AntCamponotus pennsylvanicusCan damage your homeRed Imported Fire AntRed Imported Fire AntSolenopsis invictaCan stingAmerican Winter AntAmerican Winter AntPrenolepis imparisArgentine AntArgentine AntLinepithema humileNuisance, not dangerousImmigrant Pavement AntImmigrant Pavement AntTetramorium immigransCan stingOdorous House AntOdorous House AntTapinoma sessileCan damage your home

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temnothorax_curvispinosus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.