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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing bull ants. There are approximately 90 described bull ant species and they’re almost exclusively found in Australia. Outside of Australia, there is a single known species that lives on the island of New Caledonia. Bull ants are most abundant in southern parts of Australia but can be found throughout the country. They live in scrubby forests with vegetation coverage as well as urban areas. Bull ant colonies make their homes in nests that may either be underground including sandy soil, in decaying stumps or logs, and in rocks. Underground nests can extend several meters below the surface. Bull ants are also skilled climbers and can be found in vegetation. This can lead to unfortunate accidents when they fall from overhanging tree branches onto unsuspecting people below!

A bull ant colony consists of workers and a single queen. There may be hundreds to thousands of workers, but they don’t work as in sync with each other as some other ant colonies we’ve discussed, like weaver ants. Bull ants are diurnal and go out to forage on their own. They eat plant material like nectar to fuel themselves and they capture other insects to bring home to their larvae in the nest. These prey items can include beetles, spiders, and even wasps. Bull ants grasp prey with their large mandibles and then sting with a potent venom that works quickly. So yes, technically they can both bite AND sting! Their sting is described as similar to a wasp sting. Bull ants are known as the “most dangerous ants” because their venom can cause an allergic reaction in humans which can be fatal.

Also known as bulldog ants, bull ants get these common names for their aggressive nature. These insects have excellent vision for a small invertebrate. They can see an intruder up to a meter away and will chase them down to defend their nest. Even a human sized intruder! Smaller bull ant species are also known as jumper ants because they’ll jump towards a nest intruder - similar to how trap jaw ants jump to avoid predators! While the smaller bull ant species may be only a few millimeters in length, larger bull ants can be over an inch long. For this reason they have the other common name “inch ants”, and they are considered the largest living ants in Australia!

Bull ants begin their life as an egg which is laid by the colony queen. She begins a colony by leaving her home via flight and mating before settling down to lay her first eggs. The eggs hatch to larvae which are tended by workers (or the queen if they’re the first brood). The larvae then pupate in a cocoon that is cared for by the workers. These hatch into a new generation of workers or a batch of new queens who will set off and start the cycle all over again. The process from egg to adult takes just over two months for some species but may be longer in others.

Though bull ants have potent venom, their predators include red back spiders, echidnas, and assassin bugs. If they can avoid predators, they may live up to two years!

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