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The meat ant (Iridomyrmex purpureus), also known as the gravel ant or southern meat ant, is a species of ant endemic to Australia. A member of the genus Iridomyrmex in the subfamily Dolichoderinae , it was described by British entomologist Frederick Smith in 1858.
The bulldog ant Myrmecia brevinoda is the largest ant in the world in terms of average worker size [1]. The ant fauna of Australia is large and diverse. As of 1999, Australia and its external territories represent 1,275 described taxa (subspecies included) divided into 103 genera and 10 subfamilies. [2]
The ants counter this by preventing meat ants from leaving their nest by blocking their nesting holes with debris, a behaviour known as nest-plugging. [70] [71] If meat ant nests are encroached by trees or other shade, banded sugar ants may invade and take over the nest, since the health of the colony may deteriorate from overshadowing. [72]
In 2009, the native meat ant was found to be immune to the toad's poison and can successfully prey upon young cane toads. Whereas native frogs and toads have natural reflexes to avoid the meat ants, the cane toads do not tend to try to escape the ants, rather standing still when attacked waiting for the toxin to kill the attacker. [36]
File:Big Meat Ant, Augathella, September 2020 1 (close-up).jpg. ... The Big Meat Ant in Augathella, Queensland in September 2020. Date: 29 September 2020: Source: Own ...
[27] [29] The immobility of cane toads in response to attack is futile to escaping the meat ants, which consume the toads alive. [3] [27] [29] A study by Ward-Fear et al. (2010) [29] found that meat ants could inflict serious injuries to metamorph toads within 5 seconds and attacks resulted in mortality in more than 80% of cases.
This article is supported by WikiProject Queensland ... Rick Shine mentions a technique in which meat ants are encouraged to build colonies near toad breeding ponds ...
They are notoriously aggressive hunters able to subdue formidable prey such as bees and other ants. Unable to eat solid food, adult ants feed on juices from the prey insects; the meat of the prey is fed to the colony's larvae. Their diet is supplemented by the workers' own trophic eggs, which are commonly fed to the queen and larvae.