Killer ant

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Killer ant is a term to describe any of several species of ants that are predatory, attack en masse when their mounds are disturbed, and can kill animals many times their size, even deer if they are immobilized. They have been called the fiercest predators on Earth. Predator ants kill more individuals than all the big predators combined.

PictureTemplate:Ref Name Range Comments
Image:CowKillerDrees.jpg Velvet ants, family Mutillidae USA Velvet ants are popularly known as "cow killers", but this is a fanciful name; they cannot kill animals as large as cows. There are two species: Dasymutilla occidentalis in the eastern USA, and the red velvet ant, Dasymusilla magnifica, in the western USA.

Note that velvet ants are not ants proper: that is, they are not members of the ant family Formicidae, but are wasps in the family Mutillidae. [1]

Image:RIFA.jpg Red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Americas, Southern China, Australia Fire ants are aggressive and have a painful sting. A person typically encounters fire ants by inadvertently stepping into one of their mounds, which causes the ants to swarm up the person's legs, attacking en masse. The ants respond to pheromones that are released by the first ant to attack. The ants then swarm and immediately sting when any movement is sensed.
Argentine ant, Linepithema humile Argentina, Southern Europe, Southern USA, California Very small, attack mostly other ants. The main supercolony (Italy, Atlantic coast of Spain) is said to be the largest cooperating ant population in the World.
Image:PharaohDrees.jpg Pharaoh ant, Monomorium pharaonis Worldwide In February 2000, an invasion of Pharaoh ants terrorized office workers in Berlin, Germany.
Image:RedHarvesterDrees.jpg Red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus Western USA Bright red myrmicine ants whose venom has the highest relative azoicity of any ants species. Images
Bulldog ants, genus Myrmecia Australia They are said to be repelled by yellow objects. Belonging to the subfamily Myrmecinae, these are the most primitive extant ants. All but one of the three score or so species are found in Australia.
Bullet ants, genus Paraponera ? Bullet ants, and their close relatives of the genus Dinoponera are New World ponerines.
Honeypot ants, genus Myrmecocystus ? (It is claimed that these are really harmless ants. An expert opinion is needed.) M. mendax is rather attractively coloured and diurnal, whereas the darker species such as M. californicus tend to be more active during the night.
Legionnaire ants, genus Polyergus range?

Legionnaire ants are most interesting southern boreal obligate dulotes of the Formicinae subfamily. Their host is, like a similar convergent species, Formica sanguinea, ants of the Formica fusca group. Although absent from the British Isles, Polyergus rufescens is present on the continent, and many observations of its behaviour were made by Auguste-Henri Forel.

Like the unrelated British-found parasite to Tetramorium caespitum, Strongylodus testaceus (first discovered in Britain by Horace Donisthorpe), the legionnaire ants display greatly adapted, strongly falcate mandibles, which they use for piercing the heads of F. fusca et. al. during raids.

Image:CrzyAntDrees.jpg Yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes Christmas Island They kill red crabs on Christmas Island, and generally destroy the ecosystem for the other 17 species of terrestrial crab found there, including the largest terrestrial invertebrate in the known world.
New World Army ants, genus Eciton South America, Southern Mexico Army and Driver ants appear to be the most dangerous of the killer ants. Driver ants can reduce a tethered cow to polished bone in several weeks. A few cases of human deaths (inebriated or infant) have been reported. Reference The New World army ants have recently been separated from the Dorylinae.
Driver ants, subfamily Dorylinae The Old world, esp. West Africa and the Congo Basin Army and Driver ants appear to be the most dangerous of the killer ants. Driver ants can reduce a tethered cow to polished bone in several weeks. A few cases of human deaths (inebriated or infant) have been reported.

Unlike the army ants of the New World, Old World army ants lack a functional sting, but this is more than compensated for by their razor-sharp, falcate mandibles. Dorylus spp. colonies also reach larger sizes than Eciton.

  1. Template:Note The pictures in the table above are copyrighted and used by permission (see Talk page for details) from the author, Bart Drees, Director, Texas Imported Fire Ant Project, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University. Many more images like these can be seen at their Fire Ant Web site (Home Page, Photos).
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See also

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Killer ants in popular culture

Horror movies or novels involving fanciful killer ants include:

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