The Christmas Island red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis) is a species of land crab that is endemic to Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean. Although restricted to a relatively small area, it has been estimated that 43.7 million adult red crabs once lived on Christmas Island alone, but the accidental introduction of the yellow crazy ant is believed to have killed about 10–15 million of these in recent years. Christmas Island red crabs are well known for their annual mass migration to the sea to lay their eggs in the ocean.
Christmas Island red crabs are rather large crabs with the carapace measuring up to 116 millimetres (4.6 in) wide. For most of the year, red crabs can be found within Christmas Islands' forests, however, each year they must migrate to the coast to breed. The beginning of the wet season (usually October/November) allows the crabs to increase their activity and stimulates their annual migration. The timing of their migration is also linked to the phases of the moon. During this migration red crabs abandon their burrows and travel to the coast to mate and spawn. During their annual breeding migration, red crabs will often have to cross roads, sometimes as many as 3 or 4, to get to their breeding grounds and then back to forest. As a result, red crabs are frequently crushed by vehicles and sometimes cause accidents due to their tough exoskeletons which are capable of puncturing tires
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| Yellow Crazy Ant |
Photo Source: Collected from Internet
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