Giant bull ant facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Red bull ant |
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M. gulosa
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| Myrmecia gulosa (Fabricius, 1775)
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The red bull ant is also known as the giant bull ant or "hoppy joe". It is a type of bulldog ant from the Myrmecia group. These ants are very common across Eastern Australia.
Contents
Discovering the Red Bull Ant
The first red bull ant was found in 1770 by Joseph Banks. This made it one of the very first Australian insects ever collected and studied by scientists.
What Does a Red Bull Ant Look Like?
Red bull ants are among the largest ant species. Adult ants can grow to be about 15 to 30 millimeters long. That's like the length of two or three small paper clips!
Body Colors and Features
Their head and middle body part, called the thorax, are usually reddish-brown. The back part of their body, the abdomen, is black. Their strong jaws, called mandibles, are yellowish-brown.
Powerful Jaws and Sting
These ants have long, powerful jaws with jagged edges. They also have a sting that can inject venom. A sting from a red bull ant can cause a lot of pain for a few days.
Amazing Eyesight
Unlike many other ants, red bull ants do not rely much on their sense of smell. Instead, they have incredibly good eyesight! They can spot and react to things that are two meters away. That's like seeing a person from across a small room.
Where Do Red Bull Ants Live?
Red bull ants are very common in eastern Australia. You can find them along the coast of Queensland and in eastern New South Wales. They also live in the Australian Capital Territory and near the Murray-Darling Basin.
Specific Locations
In Queensland, red bull ants have been seen in places like Black Mountain, Brisbane, Fletcher, Stanthorpe, and St. George. In New South Wales, they are found in Lismore, Armidale, Narrabri, near the Clarence River, Taree, and in Sydney suburbs like Como, Oatley, and Liverpool.
Preferred Homes
These ants usually build small mounds for their nests. They like to live in open areas where they can easily search for food. Workers are often seen looking for food in places where there have been bushfires.
How Red Bull Ants Behave
Red bull ants are known for being fierce hunters. They often hunt alone and can catch tough prey like bees and other ants.
What They Eat
Adult ants cannot eat solid food. Instead, they drink the juices from the insects they catch. The meat of their prey is given to the colony's young ants, called larvae. The workers also lay special eggs that are not meant to hatch. These eggs are fed to the queen ant and the larvae to help them grow.
Their Nests
Red bull ants build their nests with many tunnels. These tunnel systems can become very large and spread out underground.
