Myrmecia

Myrmecia
Bull Ant
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Hexapoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Apocrita
Superfamily:	Vespoidea
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmeciinae
Genus:	Myrmecia Fabricius, 1804
Species
Myrmecia forficata Myrmecia gulosa Myrmecia inquilina Myrmecia pilosula  many more, see text
Diversity
c. 90 species

Myrmecia, often called bulldog ants, bull ants, inch ants, sergeant ants, jumper ants or jack-jumpers (although jack jumper only applies to members of the M. pilosula species group), is a genus of ants. Bull ants can grow to over 40 mm (1.6 in) in length, with the smallest species 15 mm (0.59 in) long. Almost all of the approximately 90 species are endemic to Australia, with the single exception of Myrmecia apicalis from New Caledonia, where it is rare.^[1]

Biology

A virgin queen bulldog ant

These ants are well-known in Australia for their aggressive behaviour and powerful stings.^[1] The venom of these ants has the potential to induce anaphylactic shock in allergic sting victims. As with most severe allergic reactions, if left untreated the reaction may be lethal. These large, alert ants have characteristic large eyes and long, slender mandibles. They have superior vision, able to track and even follow intruders from a distance of 1 metre.^[1] Myrmecia is one of several ant genera which possess gamergates, female worker ants which are able to mate and reproduce, thus sustaining the colony after the loss of the queen. A colony of Myrmecia pyriformis without queen was collected in 1998 and kept in captivity, during which time the gamergates produced viable workers for three years.^[2]

Diet

Detail of head and mandibles

Myrmecia forficata

Bull ants eat small insects, honeydew (a sweet, sticky liquid found on leaves, deposited from various insects), seeds, fruit, fungi, gums, and nectar. The adult ants mainly eat nectar and honeydew, but the ant larvae are carnivores that eat small insects brought back to them by hunting worker ants. The workers can also regurgitate food back in the nest so other ants can consume it.

Foes of bull ants are the black ants, which despite being much smaller, use their much greater numbers to overwhelm bull ant colonies.

Philosophy

The bull ant famously appears in the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's major work, The World as Will and Representation, as a paradigmatic example of strife and constant destruction endemic to the "will to live".

"But the bulldog-ant of Australia affords us the most extraordinary example of this kind; for if it is cut in two, a battle begins between the head and the tail. The head seizes the tail in its teeth, and the tail defends itself bravely by stinging the head: the battle may last for half an hour, until they die or are dragged away by other ants. This contest takes place every time the experiment is tried." ^[3]

Species

M. brevinoda

M. gulosa

Myrmecia aberrans Forel, 1900 Myrmecia acuta Ogata & Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia analis Mayr, 1862 Myrmecia apicalis Emery, 1883 Myrmecia arnoldi Clark, 1951 Myrmecia athertonensis Forel, 1915 Myrmecia auriventris Mayr, 1870 Myrmecia borealis Ogata & Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia brevinoda Forel, 1910 Myrmecia browningi Ogata & Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia callima (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia cephalotes (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia chasei Forel, 1894 Myrmecia chrysogaster (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia clarki Crawley, 1922 Myrmecia comata Clark, 1951 Myrmecia croslandi Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia cydista (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia desertorum Wheeler, 1915 Myrmecia dichospila Clark, 1938 Myrmecia dimidiata Clark, 1951 Myrmecia dispar (Clark, 1951) Myrmecia elegans (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia erecta Ogata & Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia esuriens Fabricius, 1804 Myrmecia eungellensis Ogata & Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia exigua (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia fabricii Ogata & Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia ferruginea Mayr, 1876 Myrmecia flammicollis Brown, 1953 Myrmecia flavicoma Roger, 1861 Myrmecia forceps Roger, 1861 Myrmecia forficata (Fabricius, 1787) Myrmecia formosa Wheeler, 1933 Myrmecia froggatti Forel, 1910 Myrmecia fucosa Clark, 1934 Myrmecia fulgida Clark, 1951 Myrmecia fulviculis Forel, 1913 Myrmecia fulvipes Roger, 1861 Myrmecia fuscipes Clark, 1951 Myrmecia gilberti Forel, 1910 Myrmecia gratiosa Clark, 1951 Myrmecia gulosa (Fabricius, 1775) Myrmecia harderi Forel, 1910 Myrmecia hilli (Clark, 1943)

Myrmecia hirsuta Clark, 1951 Myrmecia infima Forel, 1900 Myrmecia inquilina Douglas & Brown, 1959 Myrmecia loweryi Ogata & Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia ludlowi Crawley, 1922 Myrmecia luteiforceps Wheeler, 1933 Myrmecia mandibularis Smith, 1858 Myrmecia maura Wheeler, 1933 Myrmecia maxima Moore, 1842 Myrmecia michaelseni Forel, 1907 Myrmecia midas Clark, 1951 Myrmecia minuscula Forel, 1915 Myrmecia mjobergi Forel, 1915 Myrmecia nigra Forel, 1907 Myrmecia nigriceps Mayr, 1862 Myrmecia nigriscapa Roger, 1861 Myrmecia nigrocincta Smith, 1858 Myrmecia nobilis (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia occidentalis (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia pavida Clark, 1951 Myrmecia petiolata Emery, 1895 Myrmecia picta Smith, 1858 Myrmecia picticeps Clark, 1951 Myrmecia piliventris Smith, 1858 Myrmecia pilosula Smith, 1858 Myrmecia potteri (Clark, 1951) Myrmecia pulchra Clark, 1929 Myrmecia pyriformis Smith, 1858 Myrmecia queenslandica Forel, 1915 Myrmecia regularis Crawley, 1925 Myrmecia rowlandi Forel, 1910 Myrmecia rubicunda (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia rubripes Clark, 1951 Myrmecia rufinodis Smith, 1858 Myrmecia rugosa Wheeler, 1933 Myrmecia simillima Smith, 1858 Myrmecia subfasciata Viehmeyer, 1924 Myrmecia swalei Crawley, 1922 Myrmecia tarsata Smith, 1858 Myrmecia tepperi Emery, 1898 Myrmecia testaceipes (Clark, 1943) Myrmecia tridentata Ogata & Taylor, 1991 Myrmecia urens Lowne, 1865 Myrmecia varians Mayr, 1876 Myrmecia vindex Smith, 1858

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Ants Down Under
2. ^ Dietemann V., Peeters, C, & Hölldobler, B. 2004 "Gamergates in the Australian ant subfamily Myrmeciinae" Naturwissenschaften 91(9):432-435
3. ^ The World as Will and Representation

• Bugs take the squeeze to breathe easy
• Ants
• Red Bull ant
• [1]
• ITIS: Genus Myrmecia
• Ants Down Under: Genus Myrmecia

External links

• Brisbane Ants page on Myrmeciinae w/pictures, info
• Ants Down Under: Myrmeciinae
• Myrmecos.net: Photo Gallery of Myrmecia bulldog ants
• Australian Museum Online: Bull ants Fact File