Myrmecia simillima

A Bull Ant at Mount Clear, ACT

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Identification history

Myrmecia simillima	20 Dec 2020	JonLewis
Myrmecia nigriceps	19 Dec 2020	AlisonMilton
Unidentified	17 Dec 2020	Christine

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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

Christine wrote:

19 Dec 2020

Alison, it does not appear to have a Black head. What about a "Red Bull Ant"?

JonLewis wrote:

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

Christine wrote:

21 Dec 2020

Thanks Jon and Alison, and may I wish both of you a very Happy Christmas and New year, Christine.

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