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Australian Wildlife

  Bulldog Ant (Myrmecia nigriceps)





Bulldog Ant | Myrmecia nigriceps photo
Myrmecia nigriceps

Image by Donald Hobern - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







BULLDOG ANT FACTS

Identification
The Bulldog Ant (Myrmecia nigriceps) has a black head and black gaster (the bulbous part of the abdomen). The rest of the body is reddish brown ands the mandibles are yellowish. the head is squarish and the mandibles are longer than the head. The mandibles have 13 teeth with the third, fifth, eighth, and eleventh teeth longer than the others. The queen is similar in colour to the worker but larger and more robust with shorter mandibles.

Size
Length: worker 19mm -23mm; queen 24mm - 26mm.

Range
found across southern half of mainland Australia including Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales



Classification
Class:Insecta
Order:Hymenoptera
Family:Formicidae
Genus:Myrmecia
Species:nigriceps
Common Name:Bulldog Ant

Relatives in same Genus
  Bulldog Ant (M. brevinoda)
  Tasmanian Inchman (M. esuriens)
  Bulldog Ant (M. forficata)
  Red Bull Ant (M. gulosa)
  Jack Jumper Ant (M. pilosula)