Graceful Twig Ant

Pseudomyrmex gracilis · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae

Also called: Elongate Twig Ant, Mexican Twig Ant, Slender Twig Ant

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Graceful Twig Ant
Photo: Richard Stovall, CC BY

Workers are about 8 to 10 mm long and have a dark head and abdomen with orange-colored thorax, legs and antennae. They are often seen on plants, hunting other insects or gathering honeydew from sap-sucking bugs. If a colony loses its queen, workers fight with their antennae to form a hierarchy, and the top individuals can lay eggs until a new queen arrives.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Workers are bi-colored: dark head and gaster, orange thorax, legs and antennae with darker shading.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Workers measure about 8 to 10 mm (0.31 to 0.39 in) in length.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They are commonly found on vegetation while foraging.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

They hunt live insects and also collect honeydew from sap-sucking insects.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Without a queen, workers establish a dominance hierarchy by antennae boxing, and the highest ranking individuals can lay eggs temporarily.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 11 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Hawaii, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina.

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

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Graceful Twig Ant photo 3
Photo: Heatherelle, CC BY
Graceful Twig Ant photo 4
Photo: Neal Kelso, CC BY
Graceful Twig Ant photo 5
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY-SA
Graceful Twig Ant photo 6
Photo: Tyler Bishop, 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/Pseudomyrmex_gracilis

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

Text written 2026-10-22 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.