These ants are natural predators of Thaumetopoea pityocampa, a moth that is a devastating pest of Mediterranean pines (especially Pinus halepensis).
Exhyalanthrax afer has been reared from pupae of tachinid and ichneumonid parasitoids of Thaumetopoea pityocampa and from the pupae of this species and other Lepidoptera.