Myrmecia regularis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Myrmecia regularis |
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Myrmeciinae
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M. regularis
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| Myrmecia regularis Crawley, 1925
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The Myrmecia regularis is a type of ant that lives only in Australia. It belongs to a group of ants called Myrmecia, also known as bulldog ants. An American scientist named Walter Cecil Crawley first described this ant in 1925.
These ants are medium to large, usually measuring between 10 to 20 mm (0.4 to 0.8 in) long. They are a bright brownish-red color. Queen ants and worker ants look similar, but queens are noticeably larger. Male ants also look similar, but scientists haven't been able to study them closely because the collected samples are often damaged.
M. regularis ants are found along the south-western coast of Australia. They live in eucalypt forests and open woodlands. These ants build their nests underground and do not make mounds above the ground. Worker ants are busy both day and night. They search for food on trees, looking for insects to eat and sweet things like sap and nectar. The young ants, called larvae, only eat insects that the worker ants catch for them.
New queens and males fly to mate, usually from February to April. After mating, queens shed their wings inside the nest. They often mate close to where they were born. Queens look for food for their young before the eggs hatch. It can take as long as eight months for a young ant to grow from an egg to an adult. Interestingly, some types of frogs are known to live inside M. regularis ant colonies.
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About the Myrmecia regularis Ant
The Myrmecia regularis ant was first described by Walter Cecil Crawley in 1925. He wrote about it in a science article called "New ants from Australia - II." He studied two worker ants he found in Albany, Western Australia. These ants are now kept in a museum collection.
For a while, some scientists thought M. regularis was the same as another ant, Myrmecia lucida. But later, another scientist, William Morton Wheeler, said they were different. He compared them to ants he found in southwest Australia. In 1991, scientists Kazuo Ogata and Robert Taylor studied M. regularis again. They placed it in the M. gulosa group of ants. This grouping was based on how the worker ants looked.
What M. regularis Ants Look Like
Worker ants are about 10 to 14 mm (0.4 to 0.6 in) long, not counting their jaws. Their jaws add another 3.6 mm (0.14 in). So, including their jaws, workers are 14 to 20 mm (0.6 to 0.8 in) long. Queens are a bit bigger, from 18 to 20 mm (0.7 to 0.8 in). Males are 15 to 17 mm (0.6 to 0.7 in) long.
These ants are a bright brownish-red color. Their legs and antennae are brown, and their back part (called the gaster) is black. Their head and middle body part (thorax) are a shiny mahogany red. Their jaws are shaded with brown. They have yellow, long hairs all over their body, but the hairs are shorter on their legs.
Queens look very similar to workers in color and hairiness, but they are usually larger. Some queens have small wing buds, while others have fully developed wings. The heads of both workers and queens are as long as they are wide. Their jaws are long and have thirteen teeth.
M. regularis ants look a bit like another ant called M. forficata. However, M. regularis is smaller. Their jaws are also narrower, and the back corners of their heads are more rounded.
Where M. regularis Ants Live
M. regularis ants are found in the south-western coastal areas of Australia. They have been seen in towns like Albany, Denmark, Manjimup, and around the Margaret River in Western Australia. They are also found on Kangaroo Island in South Australia and in Portland, Victoria.
These ants like to live in different natural places. This includes woodlands, open forests, and dry marri forests. They are very common in Eucalyptus woodlands, especially where E. diversicolor, E. gomphocephala, and E. marginata trees grow.
M. regularis colonies do not build mounds above ground. Instead, they nest in damp, dark soil or under large stones and logs. A typical colony might have 100 to 200 worker ants. These nests are usually found at heights between 80 and 350 m (260 and 1,150 ft) above sea level. Young colonies start with small chambers about 2.5 to 4 cm (1.0 to 1.6 in) wide. Logs or stones often form the roof of these chambers. Most nests also have a tunnel that goes deeper into the ground, usually about 6 cm (2.4 in) down, leading to another small chamber.
Ant Behavior and Life Cycle
M. regularis ants are very aggressive. If their nest is disturbed, they will chase intruders for several meters. Their stings are very painful and powerful. Some people who are stung by M. regularis ants can have strong allergic reactions to the venom.
These ants are active both during the day and at night. They search for food on the trunks of eucalyptus trees. They eat tree sap and nectar. They also catch small insects like caterpillars and other ants. The ant larvae (young ants) are carnivores, meaning they only eat insects. They will eat small parts of an insect or sometimes the whole thing. Unlike many other ant species, M. regularis adults share food with each other and with their larvae.
Interestingly, a type of frog called Metacrinia nichollsi is known to live inside M. regularis ant colonies. These frogs use the tunnels and chambers built by the ants. Another type of ant, the parasitic M. inquilina, might try to enter M. regularis nests to start their own colonies. However, M. inquilina queens are often caught and killed by M. regularis ants if they meet.
Reproduction and Colony Growth
New queens and males usually fly to mate sometime between February and April. Before a queen leaves her parent nest, she will shed her wings inside the nest. She then mates with low-flying males nearby. After mating, a queen will find a quiet spot and dig a small chamber underground. She stays there for seven to eight months.
However, it's unlikely a queen can survive that long just on her stored fat. During this time, she might leave her nest sometimes. She usually lays eggs from October to November, when there is plenty of food available. But some queens might lay eggs after only a month of being alone during winter.
M. regularis queens are called "semi-claustral." This means the queen will leave her nest to find food for her young. She will catch insects for her larvae or feed on sweet substances. If there isn't enough food, the queen will use her own fat to feed the larvae until she dies or finds more food. The larvae will not be eaten by the queen, and they can stay alive for about a week after the queen dies. It takes about eight months for a single ant to grow from an egg to a fully grown adult.
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See also
In Spanish: Myrmecia regularis para niños
