Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

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To see a diagram of a worker ant illustrating terminology, visit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaster_(insect_anatomy)#/media/File:Scheme_ant_worker_anatomy-en.svg

Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

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JonLewis wrote:

Yesterday

Likely Crematogaster, but can't quite see them well enough.

Formicidae (family)

Lisa.Jok wrote:

1 Oct 2025

Hey @JonLewis, thank you for your ID and additional ant information 😀.

Papyrius sp. (genus)

JonLewis wrote:

1 Oct 2025

Hi Lisa, thanks for the suggestion and the great annotated photos. Linepithema, Iridomyrmex and Papyrius are all in the same subfamily (Dolicoderinae) so have the same general features. Linepithima are much smaller, non-descript ants which look like a very small brown Iridomyrmex. We get them in Canberra occasionally, but the climate seems to be too cold for them to stay around for long. Cheers, Jon

Papyrius sp. (genus)

JonLewis wrote:

29 Sep 2025

A male.

Formicidae (family)

JonLewis wrote:

28 Sep 2025

@amiessmacro From their stance, the ants look like they are engaged in “ritual fighting” which can happen at the boundaries of two different ant colonies. You may be interested in the link below. Cheers, Jon
https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Ritualised_fighting_in_Iridomyrmex_purpureus

Iridomyrmex purpureus