What are these ants?

[deano]

I went to a Christmas party and in the back yard they had this massive ant nest, infact 2 of them, almost the same. Same colony anyway.

These are the ants from that colony. Does anyone know what species they are?




Also, this ant walked right into my bedroom, the furthest room in the house and bit my foot. Scared the out of me.

Is it a queen? also what species? She is 1.5cm long (15 mm). Pretty big, like a sugar ant.

[Jenny]

A lovely looking species, the last pic is a great close up and a beautiful colour. Maybe some other members from Australia would know the species

[Wood~Ant]

The top ants remind me of slave making species a bit, but not knowing what Australian ant species may be slave makers, it is only a wild guess.
They do look very much like a Formica species, or perhaps a similar related species. Their long legs could suggest Aphaenogaster; but I am still more inclined to say Formica.

The queen ant looks a little like a Camponotus, though again I cannot say which exact species she may belong to
I wish we had a comprehensive list of antipodean ant species, and it would be nice if we had an Australian ant expert to help out, as there must be quite a few good entomologists down under

You may find your ants here in our Australian Ant Links section}
queenant.proboards82.com/index.cgi?board=info&action=display&thread=1415

Hope I may have helped a little, even though it may be a stab in the dark and only suggests what genus these ants may belong to

[Nattybob]

I honestly have no idea on the species, but both of these are beautiful! I love the honey colours on that queen!

Great photography too!

Nathan

[Phasmid]

The first ant is definitely not Myrmicinae but is most likely Formicinae and possibly Dolichoderinae, I think maybe a Camponotus or Cataglyphis.
The second is definitely a Camponotus, maybe C. nigriceps, although I think they are a bit bigger than 15mm.

[30000]

the top picture looks like meat eater ants ?

[Caydenn]

I have been to australia and yes that is the meat eater ant. Where did you get the queen???