Ants fighting

[Choderboy]

Actually , I think attempting to reproduce is probably more likely. These ants are very common , very vicious too. I found one of these ants dragging the other one along by it's leg. I think it only let go due to me interrupting with the camera. It spent the next few minutes doing what appeared to be fighting. I'd guess if it wanted to , it could easily cut through the other ant's leg , so it was probably more of a "love hold"
After a few minutes they seemed to lose their sex drive and decided attacking me was more fun.

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"You want some of this?" No thanks , I know it hurts..

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/3039391033_078e66403b_o.jpg

[macro junkie]

amazing ants..im very jealous we dont have ants like that here

[Choderboy]

amazing ants..im very jealous we dont have ants like that here

You hear about various dangerous animals in Australia. Unexpected fact is: the animal that causes the most ambulance call outs / hospitalization is an ant!

From:
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1305089.htm

The "jack jumper" ant kills at a rate of one person every four years and causes severe illness in hundreds of others.

[spidermanrbryce2006]

brilliant shots

[LordV]

Wonderful shots- wonderful looking ants. Don't think this is reproduction- these are workers/soldiers.
Brian V.

[txcanon]

Great series Dave! Those ants do seem pretty vicious from what I see on TV.

[macro junkie]

these are jack jumpers?

[macro junkie]

wow these things are crazy

Jack jumper ants are carnivores (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore) and scavengers. They sting their victims with venom that is similar to stings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sting_(biology)) of wasps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasps), bees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bees), and fire ants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ants). Their venom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venom) is some of the most powerful in the insect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect) world. Jack jumper ants are proven hunters; even wasps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasps) are hunted and devoured. These ants have excellent vision, which aids them in hunting.
The symptoms of the stings of the ants are similar to stings of the fire ants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant). The reaction is local; swelling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edema), reddening (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythema) and fever, followed by formation of a blister (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blister). The heart rate increases, and blood pressure falls rapidly. In individuals allergic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergic) to the venom (about 3% of cases), a sting sometimes causes anaphylactic shock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphylactic_shock). Although 3% may seem small, jack jumper ants cause more deaths in Tasmania than spiders, snakes, wasps, and sharks combined.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_jumper_ant#cite_note-0)

[macro junkie]

how do they sting>?is it like a bee on there abdomen?

[Choderboy]

I never worked out conclusively what these are last time I tried.
They are very similar to Jack jumpers , but I don't think they are.
They definitely do jump (the aggressor here jumped quite a bit during this encounter) They behave just like the jack jumpers I saw on the TV documentary with "ant cam". The danger is if you are allergic - about 50,000 people estimated to be allergic in Australia of about 20 million people.

If you saw the "ant cam" show , they subjected someone to a bite , in a controlled environment , in hospital and the victim was in serious trouble within minutes.

They said a vaccine was almost ready in 2005 , I have not followed it through to see if they have.

[racketman]

great series; having been attacked by much smaller ants than these in Mexico i'm glad we don't have them here - it would make me very wary of lying in the grass.
I assumed they were bull ants but haven't seen photos of them recently - can Bull ants have black heads?

[troypiggo]

Hey Dave, great series. Some very sharp action shots there. We get those ants up here too. Nasty looking.

I believe last time I posted pics of one it was ID's as a bull ant or bulldog ant, and a jack jumper is a sub-species of that.

[digirebelva]

Correct me if a I am wrong, but like bees, all worker ants are female, males are only born once a year, and only live long enough to mate with a queen then die...

[tkoutdoor]

wow these things are crazy

Jack jumper ants are carnivores (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore) and scavengers. They sting their victims with venom that is similar to stings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sting_(biology)) of wasps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasps), bees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bees), and fire ants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ants). Their venom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venom) is some of the most powerful in the insect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect) world. Jack jumper ants are proven hunters; even wasps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasps) are hunted and devoured. These ants have excellent vision, which aids them in hunting.
The symptoms of the stings of the ants are similar to stings of the fire ants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant). The reaction is local; swelling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edema), reddening (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythema) and fever, followed by formation of a blister (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blister). The heart rate increases, and blood pressure falls rapidly. In individuals allergic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergic) to the venom (about 3% of cases), a sting sometimes causes anaphylactic shock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphylactic_shock). Although 3% may seem small, jack jumper ants cause more deaths in Tasmania than spiders, snakes, wasps, and sharks combined.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_jumper_ant#cite_note-0)

Wow, I learned something new today... Tasmania is in the land down under. Maybe that makes the Hulky whirlwind cartoon guy an aboriginee. I would have remained content just thinking it was a fictional place with where Warner Brothers cartoon characters live.

The ant shots are cool too, nice sequence. :-)

[sparkplug]

Great series. Looks like they have a nice set of needle nosed pilers on them.