Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Myrmecia (AKA Bulldog Ant)

Bull/Bulldog Ants are most commonly found in the Australian Outback, they are called bulldog ants due to their ability to severely bite, and sting anything which threatens them. The bite of bull ants if left untreated can be fatal for many individuals with anaphylactic reactions. Bull ants diet consists primarily of small insects, nectar, fruits, and gum.
Bull ants are very rarely collected into ant farms due to the danger they present to humans, however the behaviours of bull ants are very different to those of normal ants. For instance certain species of bull ants do not have any colony workers, the queen invades and kills the queen of another colony and becomes the queen. 


(image source:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/burtonandy/5387284840/)


Another interesting phenomenon about bull ants is that when cut in half, the head and the tail will begin to fight each other, usually both halves die within the first few minutes. However experiments conducted have shown these battles to last up to half an hour. Although an interesting animal, caution is required around Bull Ants, so if you wish to observe the behaviours of a bull ant please do so from a safe distance, as the bull ant can stalk its threat, and prey from up to a metre away.

(MOHAMMAD AZHAR)

1 comment:

  1. I have been following this blog since the post about lions, and I just couldnt help myself but comment to this article.
    As I did some research and its true that when a bull ant is cut in half the lower body, and upper body often fight. Its things like this which make the bull ant such an interesting and wonderful creature, and its soo underated. Thank you for posting this, I cannot wait for your next post.

    ReplyDelete