Myrmecia simillima
A Bull Ant at Mount Clear, ACT
Identify this sighting
| Myrmecia simillima | JonLewis | 20 Dec 2020 | |
| Myrmecia nigriceps | AlisonMilton | 19 Dec 2020 | |
| Unverified | Christine | 17 Dec 2020 |
Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.
User's notes
Thanks to Shorty for the initial sighting. This Bull-ant was pulling along a live caterpillar which was longer than the ant, and would hold on to whatever it could grab with its legs, but the ant was more powerful.
3 comments
20 Dec 2020
Hi Christine & Alison, I had to look up a couple of references to be sure about this one. As it is so bright red I also first thought that it was the Red Bull Ant, M. gulosa, but M. gulosa always has a half red/half black gaster. So then I looked up other species from the gulosa species group (species closely related to M. gulosa) and M. simillima seemed likely and this is a relatively common ant in the region. I still wasn't sure as I have never seen one this bright before, but the image gallery in the Atlas of Living Australia shows several ants which are similarly bright in colour. Many ants start life quite pale and go darker over time, so maybe this is a young ant. Cheers, Jon
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:f1347f79-3edf-4d39-ac21-1ea21f45a58a#gallery
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:f1347f79-3edf-4d39-ac21-1ea21f45a58a#gallery
21 Dec 2020
Thanks Jon and Alison, and may I wish both of you a very Happy Christmas and New year, Christine.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.011905-35.867894
- Maps Namadgi National Park
- Places Mount Clear, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 11 Dec 2020 12:00 PM Recorded on
- Christine Recorded by
- 12mm to 25mm Animal size
Collections
- Christine Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Myrmecia simillima Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Insects
Species information
- Myrmecia simillima Scientific name
- A Bull Ant Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1177m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Description
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location