Myrmecia gulosa
| Red bull ant | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Genus: | Myrmecia |
| Species: | M. gulosa |
| Binomial name | |
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Myrmecia gulosa (Fabricius, 1775) |
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The red bull ant (Myrmecia gulosa), also known as the giant bull ant or "hoppy joe", is a species of bulldog ant from the genus Myrmecia. It is abundant throughout Eastern Australia.
The first Myrmecia gulosa specimen was collected in 1770 by Joseph Banks, making it one of the first Australian insects to be collected and described.
As one of the largest of ant species, adult individuals have been observed to be as long as 15 mm to 30 mm in body length. The head and thorax are typically coloured red-brown; the rear half of the abdomen is black and the mandibles brown-yellow. Adults characteristically possess the long, powerful serrated mandibles and a venom-laced sting capable of causing severe pain for a couple of days. Unlike most other ant species, red bull ants lack the ability of chemical senses; however, this is compensated by their extremely keen vision, with which they can spot and respond to intruders two metres away.
M. gulosa ants are abundant in eastern Australia. They can be found in the coastal regions of Queensland and east of New South Wales. Populations can be found Australian Capital Territory and in the Murray-Darling Basin. Colonies of M. gulosa ants have been recorded from Black Mountain, Brisbane, Fletcher, Stanthorpe and St. George in Queensland, and in New South Wales they have been recorded in Lismore, Armidale, Narrabri, Clarence River, Taree and in Sydney (in the suburbs of Como, Oatley and Liverpool).
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