Iridomyrmex purpureus

Iridomyrmex purpureus sp gp

Classification
Tribe: Dolichoderini
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Family: Formicinae
Common name: Meat ant

Easily qualifying to be the most common and aggressive ant in Central Australia. They have multiple nest entrances, hence called polydomous. They, as other Dolichoderines, lack a sting but can inflict a nasty bite. They form extremely long trails and establish storage depots enroute the trail. Their inability to cope with the heat is distinct in central Australia where they have strict temporal foraging patterns, and stay inside the nest during the hottest periods of the day.

They are primarily scavengers and often raid into houses and garbage bins, thus attaining a pest status. Other than feeding on insects roasted in the heat and roadkills, they tend to homopterans (membracids on the tree Hakea sp) for the honeydew they produce. Occasionally they also raid into the nest of Melophorus bagoti and pull out the workers standing guard below the plugged nest entrance.

Collected:
Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. (January 2004, January 2005)