friendly little bloke

[firstlight (Tony)]

Hi all,

This is an excitable bloke who came up and introduced himself/herself (are almost all ants female like bees?) while we holidayed up on Mt Tamborine.

This is a Jumper Ant (Myrmecia nigrocinta), named for their habit when disturbed (by that I mean standing within a metre of them), and are very aggressive. A mate once described their bite as akin to having a brick dropped onto your toe, and I have the misfortune to report that that is a very accurate description.

I thought that the bloke I have here was about 20 to 25 mm, but I have checked on the net and it seems they only grow to 15 mm, I wasn't game to put anything near it to give scale. Check out his mandibles

[h0ughy (David)]

yep rip your leg off without blinking!!

[joshman (Josh)]

youch!!!! great pic!

[Dujon]

Looks like a right frightful machine, firstlight. The 'jumping' bit would concern me.

Around my neck of the woods we have what are termed colloquially as 'Bull Ants'. You sure as whatsit don't one to get hold of you. Having been caught twice (at the same place on consecutive Saturdays) I can vouch for that. My ankle turned into a balloon and the pain was pretty severe for a day or two. When the first swelling had reduced to a manageable level I decided I'd head back to my job (caddying at a local golf club - 10/- per round and a salad roll and bottle of coke at the ninth). Error. After having done at least 100 rounds at the course you wouldn't credit getting targeted two weeks in a row.

My sympathies are attached.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

The secret with Jumping Ants is 'Don't Move!!'. They are attracted to the vibrations created when you walk. We have a number of large nests at work and rarely get bitten (rarely but yep it still hurts when it happens.) as long as we move slowly from spot to spot and when we get to where we want to go we don't move around.

Mind you that doesn't help if you don't know they are there

[ving (David)]

well i guess it keeps them warm at night hey?!