Meat ant
Meat ant
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hymenoptera Family: Formicidae Subfamily: Dolichoderinae Tribe: Tapinomini Genus: Iridomyrmex Species: I. purpureus
Binomial name
Iridomyrmex golbachi Smith, 1858

Meat ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus), also known as meat-eater ants or gravel ants, are a species of ant belonging to the Iridomyrmex genus. They can be found throughout Australia. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x1067, 211 KB) Meat Eater Ant feeding on honey If you are a (commercial) publisher and you want me to write you an email or paper mail giving you an authorization to use my works in your products or a license... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Orders See taxonomy Insects (Class Insecta) are a major group of arthropods and the most diverse group of animals on the Earth, with over a million described species—more than all other animal groups combined. ... Suborders Apocrita Symphyta Many families, see article Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of Insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. ... Subfamilies Aenictogitoninae Agroecomyrmecinae Amblyoponinae (incl. ... Genera Amyrmex Anillidris Anonychomyrma Axinidris Azteca Bothriomyrmex Doleromyrma Dolichoderus Dorymyrmex Ecphorella Forelius Froggattella Iridomyrmex Leptomyrmex Linepithema Liometopum Loweriella Ochetellus Papyrius Philidris Tapinoma Technomyrmex Turneria Dolichoderinae is a subfamily of ants, which includes species such as the Erratic Ant. ... Iridomyrmex is one of the largest and most frequently encountered groups of ants in Australia. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... Subfamilies Aenictogitoninae Agroecomyrmecinae Amblyoponinae (incl. ... Iridomyrmex is one of the largest and most frequently encountered groups of ants in Australia. ...

A queen meat ant burrowing a hole after her nuptial flight.

Leafhoppers protected by an army of meat ants

Meat ants live in underground nests of up to 64,000 workers. Many nests may be connected together into a "super-colony" that stretches up to 650 metres. They like to place gravel, sand, or bits of dead vegetation at the openings to their nests. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x1067, 463 KB) A young meat eater ant queen digging a hole to begin a new colony. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x1067, 463 KB) A young meat eater ant queen digging a hole to begin a new colony. ... Nuptial flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant species. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1067 × 1600 pixel, file size: 527 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Leaf Hopper nymph of the Common Jassid (Eurymela fenestrata). ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 400 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1067 × 1600 pixel, file size: 527 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Leaf Hopper nymph of the Common Jassid (Eurymela fenestrata). ... genera: many hundreds including: Graminella Graphocephala Homalodisca Idiocerus Leafhopper is a common name applied to any species from the family Cicadellidae. ... Gravel being unloaded from a barge Gravel is rock that is of a certain grain size range. ... Patterns in the sand Sand is a granular material made up of fine rock particles. ...

Meat ants are omnivorous scavengers and are used by some Australian farmers for carcass removal. Dead animals placed near meat ant nests can be reduced to bare bones in a matter of weeks. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

They tend to forage during the day and, being an aggressive species, force other ant species to forage at night. They are aggressive towards meat ants from neighbouring colonies as well and engage in ritual fighting to establish foraging boundaries.

Like other Iridomyrmex species, they engage in a symbiotic relationship with caterpillars of certain butterfly species which produce secretions that meat ants will feed on. In return, they protect the caterpillars from predation. Meat Ants harvest Leaf Hoppers for their honey dew. ... Caterpillar of the Emperor Gum Moth A caterpillar is the larval form of a lepidopteran (a member of the insect order comprised of butterflies and moths). ... A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk eating a California Vole In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator species kills and eats other organisms, known as prey. ...

References

• Meat Ant, Gravel Ant Fact File. Australian Museum. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.

The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, centering on natural history and anthropology, with collections centering on vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as minerology, palaeontology, and anthropology. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... April 10 is the 100th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (101st in leap years). ...

External Links

• Australian Ants Online page on meat ants.

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Meat ant