Showcase Australia

Honey Ants ยฉ Hans Boessum

Honey Ant

Aboriginal Symbols of Fauna and Wildlife
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are warned that this website contain images, voices and names of people who have passed away.
Indigenous Symbols, Iconography and Imagery

The dotted motifs of much of todayโ€™s Aboriginal modern design work has become the trademark of the contemporary Aboriginal Art movement. Its iconic status developed from a culture stretching back into the history of an ancient land, evolving and weaving into desert dreamtime stories.

Honey ant ยฉ Rex Sultan-Jabangardi
Honey ant ยฉ Rex Sultan-Jabangardi
Honey ants ยฉ June Sultan
Honey ants ยฉ June Sultan
Honey ant ยฉ Trephina Sultan Thanguwa
Honey ants ยฉ Trephina Sultan Thanguwa
Honey ants ยฉ Rex Sultan-Jabangardi
Honey ants ยฉ Rex Sultan-Jabangardi
Honey ants ยฉ June Sultan
Honey ants ยฉ June Sultan
Honey ant ยฉ Trephina Sultan Thanguwa
Honey ant ยฉ Trephina Sultan Thanguwa
Honey ant ยฉ Danny Goodwin
Honey ant ยฉ Danny Goodwin
Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Honey ant ยฉ Trephina Sultan Thanguwa
Honey ant ยฉ Trephina Sultan Thanguwa
Honey ants ยฉ Danny Goodwin
Honey ants ยฉ Danny Goodwin
Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Ants (also used to depicted rain)
Ants (also used to depicted rain)

One of the popular imagery of bush tucker include the iconic honey ants. In the depiction of the honey ants, many artist stamp their own unique way of portraying the sweet food, whether it is a close facsimile of the insect, a unique clustering arrangement or a modern take that may emphasise a particular pattern.

Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Honey Ants Information

Honey ants are ants that have been gorged with food by worker ants, so much so that their abdomens swell, functioning as a living larder. The ants are fed by the collected honeydew made by the Red Mulga Lerp, Austrotachardia acaciae (Kurkunytjungu)1.

The sweet nectar makes it one of the popular bush tucker eaten by the Indigenous Aborigines of Australia, especially in Central Australia and the Northern Territory. Women search for the nests of the honey ants, found in the roots of a specific Mulga tree. The honey ants dig deep underground tunnels and chambers where they live. The women search for the drill holes under the trees, that give away their presences. Using their wooden digging sticks, although now this may be replaced by shovels and metal bars, the women dig down, following the honey ants tunnels (nyinantu), until they find the ants, which are collected in the coolamons.

Yurumpi (honey ants) ยฉ Rex Sultan-Jabangardi
Yurumpi – Honey Ant ยฉ Rex Sultan-Jabangardi (Keyteye, NT)
The symbolism in this story shows women with their digging sticks and coolamon hunting for honey ants. The painting depicts the honey ant chambers and the connecting tunnels.

Common name
Honey ant
Arrernte name: Yerrampe, Agkwarle Yerrampe
Luritja name: Tjupi
Pitjantjatjara name: Tjala


Honey ants ยฉ Selma Coulthard
Honey ants ยฉ Selma Coulthard
  • Scientific Classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Order: Hymenoptera
  • Family: Formicidae
  • Subfamily: Formicinae
  • Tribe: Camponotini
  • Genus: Camponotus
  • Species: Camponotus inflatus

The Honey Ant is said to be the earthly manifestations of the Seven Sisters, has their own โ€˜Honey Ant Dreamingโ€™ and is a bush food delicacy. The honey ant is often depicted in many Aboriginal art work, especially those works about bush tucker.

The โ€˜Honey Ant Dreamingโ€™ belongs to the Warlpiri people in Central Australia. Yuelamu is the home of โ€˜Honey Ant Dreamingโ€™, as well as being the burial place of one of the Western Desert most famous sons, Clifford Tjapaltjarri Possum. Gabriella Possum Nungurayyi, daughter of the late Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, depicts the story of the seven Napaltjarri sisters being chased by a man named Jilbi Tjakamarra. In their journey, the sisters sat down at Uluru to search for honey ants. This is her dreaming (or creation story).2

Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja
Honey ants ยฉ Audrey Rubuntja

Aboriginal artist that have depicted the โ€˜Honey Ant Dreamingโ€™ include Mick Wikilyiri, Lucy Kngwarreye Morton, Maureen Purvis, Melissa Ross, Sharon Numina, Janet Forrester Ngala, Cecily Napanangka Granites Granites, Nikkita Nangala Sampson.

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri โ€˜Yuelamu Honey Ant Dreamingโ€™ has been reproduced with the permission of the artist as the feature coin in the 2007 Masterpieces in Silver coin range. The actual painting is part of the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia.3


Footnote & References

  1. Mai Putitja and Irmangka-Irmangka (Bush Tuck and Bush Medicine), Tjala, Retrieved 3 July, 2008, https://bush-tucker.tripod.com/html/tjala.html
  2. Crystalinks, Pleiades – The Pleiades in Folklore, Retrieved 4 July, 2008, http://www.crystalinks.com/pleiades.html
  3. Royal Australian Mint, โ€˜Masterpieces in Silverโ€™ artist to shine at the National Gallery of Australia, Retrieved 3 July, 2008,ย www.ramint.gov.au/press_releases/2007/2007_MPIS_NGA.cfm (this link is no longer active)
  4. These sweet Australian ants are “the best honey you’ve ever tasted”, by Audrey Bourget, 6 Sep 2018, SBS – Food, https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2018/09/06/these-sweet-australian-ants-are-best-honey-youve-ever-tasted