Iridomyrmex purpureus

Meat Ant at Hughes, ACT

Request use of media

Identification history

	Iridomyrmex purpureus	20 Feb 2018	MichaelMulvaney
	Unidentified	13 Feb 2018	JackyF

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

User's notes

Handsome anthill about 80cm high, smooth on top, no gravel. Medium size ants, sorry I could not get a better close-up.

6 comments

KimPullen wrote:

20 Feb 2018

The ants are meat ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus), but they are not responsible for the mound, which was made by termites.

JackyF wrote:

22 Feb 2018

Kim - Thanks very much. Can you tell if termites are still living in the mound? Do you know what the ants are doing on it? We have been puzzling about it. Cheers, Jacky

KimPullen wrote:

23 Feb 2018

Jacky - I can't say what the ants would be doing on the mound, I can't see how there would normally be any food on the surface of it. The mound does look quite sound (except for the hole at the lower left), which suggests it's occupied by termites. You could make a hole in the side of it to expose the galleries - if termites are home they will rush there (from inside) to defend and repair it. But the meat ants will also attack them. Regards, Kim.

JackyF wrote:

25 Feb 2018

Thanks so much.

DonFletcher wrote:

12 Aug 2019

There seems to be constant war between termites on one side and meat ants and sugar ants on the other. The ants commonly take over the termite mounds but I have seen one mound revert to termites. Both locally common mound building termite species seem affected.

JackyF wrote:

12 Aug 2019

Thank you!

Please Login or Register to comment.