Iridomyrmex purpureus at Mount Ainslie

Iridomyrmex purpureus

Meat Ant at Mount Ainslie

Request use of media

Identification history

Iridomyrmex purpureus	17 Oct 2020	JonLewis
Iridomyrmex purpureus	17 Oct 2020	JonLewis
Unidentified	14 Oct 2020	AlisonMilton

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

3 comments

AlisonMilton wrote:

17 Oct 2020

Jon, Why a meat ant? They don't look like any meat ant I've seen and they were solitary. Thanks

JonLewis wrote:

17 Oct 2020

Hi Alison, this is a meat ant queen which has mated, lost her wings and is now looking for a place to dig a nest. The queens are generally much bigger than the workers and are a different shape because they need big muscles to power the wings. There are some good photos on AntWiki. Cheers, Jon

AlisonMilton wrote:

18 Oct 2020

Thanks Jon

Please Login or Register to comment.