Myrmecia pyriformis
| Myrmecia pyriformis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Myrmecia pyriformis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmeciinae |
| Genus: | Myrmecia |
| Species: | M. pyriformis |
| Binomial name | |
| Myrmecia pyriformis Smith, 1858 | |
Myrmecia pyriformis, also known as the Bull Ant,[1] is an Australian ant. Myrmecia pyriformis belongs to the Myrmecia genus, a genus known as bull ants, being the largest known ants in the world. It is abundant in many major cities of Australia, but mostly spotted in the eastern states. The species is of a similar appearance to the Myrmecia forficata.[2]
Sizes of the Myrmecia pyriformis range around 14-23 millimetres (.55 to .9 inches) long. Female workers can grow as large as 26 millimetres (1.02 inches) while males only grow to 18-20 millimetres (.7 to .8 inches) long. Mandibles and most other features are dark red. Thoraxes are sometimes blackish-brown.[3][4]
Myrmecia pryformis is known to survive without a queen.[5] While some species of Myrmecia possess the gamergates, the female workers of Myrmecia pyriformis are also able to reproduce. A colony of the genus was collected in 1998 without a queen, but the colony continued producing workers for the next three years.[6]
Guinness World Records listed Myrmecia pyriformis as the world's most dangerous ant.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Most Dangerous Ant". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ↑ "Myrmecia pyriformis Smith, 1858".
- ↑ "The Formicidae of Australia" I. 1951. pp. 99–101.
|first1=missing|last1=in Authors list (help) - ↑ "The ants of Victoria Part III. Vic. Nat. (Melb.)". 1927. pp. 33–40.
|first1=missing|last1=in Authors list (help) - ↑ Dietemann V., Peeters, C, & Hölldobler, B. 2004 "Gamergates in the Australian ant subfamily Myrmeciinae" Naturwissenschaften 91(9):432-435
- ↑ "Nestmate relatedness in the Australian ant myrmecia pyriformis smith, 1858 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)". 2011. pp. 77–84.
|first1=missing|last1=in Authors list (help)