FormicidaeFormicidae Index Ants More Ants in Australia Caste Systems, Colonies and Anthills Invasive Ants in Australia Camponotus Ants Camponotus aurocinctus Camponotus consobrinus (Banded Sugar Ant) Camponotus inflatus (Honey Ant) Camponotus innexus (Antarctic Sugar Ant) Chelaner kiliani (Mono Ant) Dolichoderus doriae (Dolly Ant) Dolichoderus scabridus Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus (Red-headed Spider Ant) Melophorus bagoti Myrmecia brevinoda (Nocturnal Bull Ant) Myrmecia gulosa (Red Bull Ant) Myrmecia impaternata Myrmecia mandibularis Myrmecia nigrocincta (Jumping Jack Ant) Myrmecia pilosula (Jack Jumper Ant) Myrmecia pyriformis (Inch Ant) Myrmecia rubripes (Bullant) Myrmecia tarsata (Australian Jumper Ant) Notoncus gilberti Notoncus spinisquamis Odontomachus sp (Trap-jaw Ant) Oecophylla smaragdina (Green Tree Ant) Polyrhachis Rhytidoponera aspera Rhytidoponera metallica (Green-head Ant)
Ants live in colonies consisting of three different caste members. The dominant caste are the workers (numbering in the thousands to millions of individuals) who are the non-reproductive females, the queen (who is the centre of the colony), and the males.
Their body shape, size and role, relates to their function within the colony. The queen is usually the largest, her function to lay eggs. The males have wings, that enable them to fly away and mate with new queens. The new queens also have wings, so they can fly away from the nest, to start a new colony.
Ant colonies can be found in a variety of environments, such as cracks in buildings, under decaying stumps and bark in trees, ant mounds and anthills etc. A species of ants known as army ants build a temporary nest for the night and then move on the next day.

Many ant species live underground, sometimes evident by small clearing of sand/dirt with a small hole in the middle, and others with a raised crater shaped mound and a largish hole in the centre. Sometimes these mounds and entrances can be surround and emblished with items from the surrounding environment, such as lerps from nearby euclaypt trees and needles from mulga trees.



The following mulga ant nest, found north of Alice Springs is encircled with the dried needle shaped leaves of the nearby mulga trees. It is thought that the needles help in catching the soil and aid in forming the wall of the ant nest. The species of ants that make this type of nest in Central Australia are the Mulga Ant (Polyrhachis macropa), using the fallen leaves of the Mulga (Acacia aneura).




Ant hills should not be confused with termite mounds (such as those created by Nasutitermes triodiae).

FormicidaeFormicidae Index Ants More Ants in Australia Caste Systems, Colonies and Anthills Invasive Ants in Australia Camponotus Ants Camponotus aurocinctus Camponotus consobrinus (Banded Sugar Ant) Camponotus inflatus (Honey Ant) Camponotus innexus (Antarctic Sugar Ant) Chelaner kiliani (Mono Ant) Dolichoderus doriae (Dolly Ant) Dolichoderus scabridus Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus (Red-headed Spider Ant) Melophorus bagoti Myrmecia brevinoda (Nocturnal Bull Ant) Myrmecia gulosa (Red Bull Ant) Myrmecia impaternata Myrmecia mandibularis Myrmecia nigrocincta (Jumping Jack Ant) Myrmecia pilosula (Jack Jumper Ant) Myrmecia pyriformis (Inch Ant) Myrmecia rubripes (Bullant) Myrmecia tarsata (Australian Jumper Ant) Notoncus gilberti Notoncus spinisquamis Odontomachus sp (Trap-jaw Ant) Oecophylla smaragdina (Green Tree Ant) Polyrhachis Rhytidoponera aspera Rhytidoponera metallica (Green-head Ant)
InsectsBees Beetles Blattodea Butterflies Coleoptera Cicada Crabronidae Diptera Dragonflies & Damselflies Formicidae Hemiptera Heteroptera Moths Orthoptera Orthopteroid Processionary Caterpillar Stink Bugs, Shield Bugs and Allies Wasps Water Scorpion (Laccotrephes tristis) Witchetty Grub