The Meat Ants have a dark-bluish body and red head. It is a medium to large species, measuring 6–12 mm. The meat ant workers and males are approximately the same sizes at 6–7 mm and 8 mm, respectively. The queens are the largest and appear mostly black, measuring 12.7 mm.

The iridescence in workers ranges from green or blue to plain green and purple, varying in different body parts and castes. Colonies range in size, varying between 11,000 individual ants to 300,000.

The Meat Ant is active throughout most of the day, especially when it’s warm.

Meat Ants forage on trees and collects sweet substances such as honeydew and nectar, and also captures insects or collects the remains on animals.

Disturbed soil in urban areas and live ants entering the structure to feed on food are the most common signs of meat ants.

Meat Ant Facts

• A number of predators eat these ants, including the Short-Beaked Echidna, numerous species of birds, blind snakes and spiders
•  Meat Ants cannot sting, but they can induce irritating bites and secrete a defensive fluid from the end of their abdomen
• Newly constructed suburbs provide new nest sites for meat ants
• Meat Ants are equipped with powerful jaws and communicate with each other using chemical cues
• Meat Ants bite repeatedly and aggressively defend their nests and territories
• Meat Ants can consume a dead animal placed on a nest in a matter of weeks
• Unpaved streets, gravel paths and driveways are among the many new sites meat ants could nest