Myrmecia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i'''Myrmecia'''

Red Bull Ant

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Hexapoda
Class:	Insecta
Subclass:	Pterygota
Infraclass:	Neoptera
Superorder:	Endopterygota
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Apocrita
Superfamily:	Vespoidea
Family:	Formicidae
Genus:	Myrmecia

Species

aberrans
auriventris
cephalotes
gulosa
mandibularis
nigrocincta
picta
pilosula
tepperi
urens

The Myrmeciinae is a subfamily of the Formicidae that was once found worldwide but is now restricted to Australia and New Caledonia. The Myrmeciinae comprise two extant genera, Myrmecia and Nothomyrmecia, as well as the fossil genus Prionomyrmex.

Myrmecia, often called bull ants or jack-jumpers, are well-known in Australia for their aggressive behavior and powerful stings. The venom of these ants has approximately a 3% chance to induce anaphylactic shock in their sting victims. Until the introduction of a vaccine the stings could, if gone untreated for only a matter of hours, be lethal. These large, alert ants have characteristic large eyes and long, slender mandibles and they have superior vision, able to track and even follow intruders from a distance of 1 meter.

Bulldog Ant

1 Anatomy
2 Diet
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Anatomy

Bull ants can grow up to 2 and a half centimeters in length. Like all ants, they have six legs and two antennae and a segmented body consisting of the head, altrunk and gaster or abdomen. They also have a stinger at the back and large pincers at the front of their body which are capable of causing extreme pain.

[edit] Digestive System

The digestive system of the ant begins at its head and travels along the ant's length to its abdomen. There it has a crop, where food is stored before it is ready for digestion, a stomach, a relatively small (in size) intestine, a rectum and then it finally ends at the anus.

[edit] Cardio-Vascular System

The ant has one long heart that runs along the length of its body that pumps blood to other parts of the body.

[edit] Pulmonary System

The ant doesn't have a pulmonary system as such. Instead, it sucks air into its body using thousands of tiny holes all over its body. These holes are called trachea.

[edit] Diet

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 ants. The hunting ants can also regurgitate food back in the nest so other ants can eat it.