Their larvae are plump and hairy, with a specific conformation of mouthparts and unique mandible morphology that allows for precise species identification.

[2] They tend aphids for honeydew, feed on small insects and vertebrates, and forage on plants, especially for sweet materials.

[11] N. fulva has been a pest in rural and urban areas of Colombia, and South America, where it displaced all other ant species.

There, small poultry such as chickens have died of asphyxiation while larger animals, such as cattle, have been attacked around the eyes, nostrils, and hooves.

Grasslands have dried out because of the increase in plant-sucking insect pests (hemipterans), which the ants cultivate to feed on the sugary "honeydew" that they excrete.

[8] After exposure to fire ant venom, N. fulva retreats, covers itself with formic acid[16] and returns to the fight.

[13] Each alkaloid in the fire ant's venom, including solenopsin, has a six-membered heterocyclic ring with fat-soluble side chains.

[8] Another possibility is that the nitrogen on an alkaloid's heterocyclic ring is protonated, rendering the ionic molecule less lipophilic, thus less likely to penetrate the tawny crazy ant's cells.

[3][4] Infestations of Nylanderia fulva in electrical equipment can cause short circuits, sometimes because the ants chew through insulation and wiring.

[3] Overheating, corrosion, and mechanical failures also result from accumulations of dead ants and nest detritus in electrical devices.

[9] In June 2008, the United States Environmental Protection Agency granted temporary approval for the use of fipronil, an antitermite agent, to control this ant.