# Venomous ant in oz ???



## congo_python (Apr 15, 2009)

Did u know ? that we have one of if not the MOST venomous ant in the world ?? go oz  if its not snakes or spiders its ant lol.
Its a bull ant from tassie called a Jumping Jack and the ambulance service has at least one call out a week for aniflactic shock and if not treated quickly, u will die.luckily a doctor has done some tests on their venom and made a antivenom of sorts which can make u immune to their sting.

They are agro little buggers too any sign of vibration or movement sets them off to attack with out fear and with in minutes u can start getting a slight head ache, then a swollen throat and it all goes down hill from there.


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## Jarden (Apr 15, 2009)

woah scary stuff yeah ants freak me out lol especially the green ants theyre every where


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## BrownHash (Apr 15, 2009)

hmmm, aniflactic shock has nothing to do with the venom toxicity of the ant. It just means that a lot of people have allergic reactions to it. Also, antivenin isn't effective against anifilactic shock. However he could still be one of the worlds most venomous ants around.


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## LauraM (Apr 15, 2009)

.. i prefer ven snakes.. atleast half the time you can see them.. more so then ants


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## cris (Apr 15, 2009)

congo_python said:


> Did u know ? that we have one of if not the MOST venomous ant in the world ??



yep, we have them on the mainland too, although i havnt heard of anyone being killed by any mainland types. I have seen a few bull ants and they would have to be one of the most aggressive animals on the planet(oh sorry, i forgot snake ppl like to call aggresive defensive). Apparently a bite from one of the less harmful ones feels like getting hit by a hammer, and the guy i heard that from wasnt the type to sook about nothing.


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## brycehf (Apr 15, 2009)

Also found in brisbane.


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## Noongato (Apr 15, 2009)

There out the frount of Mums house... I made the mistake to try and stomp on one barefoot once.... Theyre like ninja ants and the sting is sooooooooooooo painful your face cant even cry and it just shrivells inward...


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## Sturdy (Apr 15, 2009)

what about the box jelly fish... we have those as well.


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## cris (Apr 15, 2009)

midnightserval said:


> There out the frount of Mums house... I made the mistake to try and stomp on one barefoot once.... Theyre like ninja ants and the sting is sooooooooooooo painful your face cant even cry and it just shrivells inward...



Haha just like the snake shoveler who gets tagged :lol:


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## Vixen (Apr 15, 2009)

midnightserval said:


> There out the frount of Mums house... I made the mistake to try and stomp on one barefoot once.... Theyre like ninja ants and the sting is sooooooooooooo painful your face cant even cry and it just shrivells inward...


 
Lmaooooo :lol:


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## Pandora Pythons (Apr 15, 2009)

and tassie thought they were safe :lol:


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## seumas12345 (Apr 15, 2009)

I've been bitten by them a few times... Canes like hell but nothing worth going to hospital for


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## christo (Apr 15, 2009)

In Tassie they call them "jack jumpers" (at least, my relos all do). There are a few different species of them and a few species on the mainland as well. Apparently some of the Tasmanian ones trigger anaphylaxis more commonly than the mainland variety. As someone else pointed out, this isn't anything to do with toxicity as such - peanuts are deadlier in that they trigger anaphylaxis more commonly.

Mainland jumping jacks can also trigger anaphylaxis. I have taught a few students over the years who are highly allergic to jumping jacks and have had anaphylactic reactions from stings. I have been stung by mainland jumping jacks and Tassie ones - they both friggin' hurt. In my experience the itchiness afterwards is the real bastard. Nothing too dangerous about them unless you are highly allergic to them though.


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## christo (Apr 15, 2009)

seumas12345 said:


> I've been bitten by them a few times... Canes like hell but nothing worth going to hospital for



Can I be the pedantic turd who points out they sting, not bite? And if you had an anaphylactic reaction, you might well be dead before you reach the hospital.


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## JasonL (Apr 16, 2009)

pffttt, nothing to worry about, unless your a soft tender little guy


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## LauraM (Apr 16, 2009)

JasonL said:


> pffttt, nothing to worry about, unless your a soft tender little guy


 am i one to asume you have been "stung" by one of these then? :lol:


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## JasonL (Apr 16, 2009)

many times...... there are worse things in life to deal with.


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## LauraM (Apr 16, 2009)

like after you announce you keep or bread hybrids to this forum..


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## JasonL (Apr 16, 2009)

LauraM said:


> like after you announce you keep or bread hybrids to this forum..



Bread hybrids? are they from Bakers Delight?


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## Australis (Apr 16, 2009)

The are mongrel things, very much like a wasp, and claimed to take
more lives than snake bites in Australian each year.. or something.


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## Ishah (Apr 16, 2009)

christo said:


> Can I be the pedantic turd who points out they sting, not bite?


 
As far as I was aware, they bite you puncturing/piercing the skin, and then squirt the stingy stuff in the open bite...Or is that just some species of ant that do that? And these are some "inbetweener" ant that are somewhere on the evolutionary scale between "real" biting ants and wasps?
Excuse my ignorance, ants arent exactly my forte`


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## seumas12345 (Apr 16, 2009)

Ishah said:


> As far as I was aware, they bite you puncturing/piercing the skin, and then squirt the stingy stuff in the open bite...Or is that just some species of ant that do that? And these are some "inbetweener" ant that are somewhere on the evolutionary scale between "real" biting ants and wasps?
> Excuse my ignorance, ants arent exactly my forte`


 
I don't know much about ants but I know that jumping jacks dont have anything resembling a stinger... Just two big nippers that they bite you with.... To my knowledge a sting is related to something like a bee, wasp, or skorpion sting in which they inject a single stinger....

The more I think about this though the more I think they bite.... You can argue that their nippers inject a venom and therefore its a "sting" but that would be like saying you were stung by a venomous snake....? Just doesn't sound right... lol

Any chance of a link to confirm whether jumping jacks actually bite or sting?


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## Australis (Apr 16, 2009)

seumas12345 said:


> Any chance of a link to confirm whether jumping jacks actually bite or sting?



Or both.





www.antstuff.net




> Some species of ants possess a sting and venom gland in their tails, as well as powerful jaws. The ant bites with its jaws, then doubles up to inject venom via the sting. This usually results in local pain or itch with a weal or swelling at the injection site. Although only local problems typically result from envenomation, patients allergic to the venom may suffer life-threatening reactions. Stinging ants of the genus Myrmecia (jumper ants and bull ants) represent a hazard to humans in the southern states of Australia due to the relatively high proportion of the population (3-4% estimated from one study) with significant allergy to their venom. Purified venom for desensitization is currently unavailable, except for certain individuals in Tasmania treated at the Royal Hobart Hospital. Fire ants have become established in Brisbane so may also become a problem in Australia.


http://www.avru.org/compendium/biogs/A000052b.htm


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## prettyinmetal (Apr 16, 2009)

midnightserval said:


> There out the frount of Mums house... I made the mistake to try and stomp on one barefoot once.... Theyre like ninja ants and the sting is sooooooooooooo painful your face cant even cry and it just shrivells inward...



hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha best call ever!


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## Renagade (Apr 16, 2009)

ha awesome, soon we will all realise that ants rule this world.


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## seumas12345 (Apr 16, 2009)

Australis said:


> Or both.


 Awesome, I guess that says it all!


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## christo (Apr 16, 2009)

seumas12345 said:


> I don't know much about ants but I know that jumping jacks dont have anything resembling a stinger... Just two big nippers that they bite you with.... To my knowledge a sting is related to something like a bee, wasp, or skorpion sting in which they inject a single stinger....
> 
> The more I think about this though the more I think they bite.... You can argue that their nippers inject a venom and therefore its a "sting" but that would be like saying you were stung by a venomous snake....? Just doesn't sound right... lol
> 
> Any chance of a link to confirm whether jumping jacks actually bite or sting?



http://amonline.net.au/insects/insects/bites.htm

They definitely sting. They hold on with their nippers, but the sting is what does the damage.


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## christo (Apr 16, 2009)

Ishah said:


> As far as I was aware, they bite you puncturing/piercing the skin, and then squirt the stingy stuff in the open bite...Or is that just some species of ant that do that? And these are some "inbetweener" ant that are somewhere on the evolutionary scale between "real" biting ants and wasps?
> Excuse my ignorance, ants arent exactly my forte`



Green tree ants do bite and then spray formic acid from their **** (I believe that is the technical term) into the bite. Other ants do this as well. But bull ants and jumping jacks have a sting.


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## christo (Apr 16, 2009)

JasonL said:


> many times...... there are worse things in life to deal with.



Like peanuts. And I eat them all the time, I don't see what all the fuss is about.


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## Snake_Whisperer (Apr 16, 2009)

A good page for a bit of info on jumpers and bulls.

http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_ants/Myrmeciinae.htm


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## congo_python (Apr 18, 2009)

Yeah they bite and sting but its the sting that does the damage, if u have an alergic reaction to it. it can kill u very quickly as said.
Aggressive little buggars too but they dont die after stinging u like a bee, they keep going on and thats how they get the venom and then let them go afterwards for their trials.
The trials have proved positive and once injected with the sirum u are imune too their sting with no ill effects.


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## cement (Apr 18, 2009)

Ive been bitten by them. They hurt enough to make you look and you find it hanging off you. You have to rub it against the ground to get it off. Nothing some ice doesn't fix.


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## DanTheMan (Apr 18, 2009)

The ants just cause more problems with people in Tassie due to weak genetic variation caused by inbreeding! :lol:


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## Stompsy (Apr 18, 2009)

Jarden said:


> woah scary stuff yeah ants freak me out lol especially the green ants theyre every where


 
I completely agree. I'm not scared of spiders but ants are horrible little creatures. And I refused to continue gardening last time we attempted it because of green ants. They are evil.


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## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 18, 2009)

ha, i never saw them till i moved to Victoria.... and i call them crazy jumping ants having seen a doco a long time back calling something similar that.... there is another ant i'm now curious about and not sure if many have seen this 1 but the specimen i came across was matalic blue, like the sawfly (wasp thingy) around 25-35mm and had a stinger in the rear (abdomen i think, don't quote, lil rusty on insects) same body shape as the jumping jack but not so flighty...

cheers
SHNAKEYGUY





...


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## christo (Apr 19, 2009)

ShnakeyGirl said:


> there is another ant i'm now curious about and not sure if many have seen this 1 but the specimen i came across was matalic blue, like the sawfly (wasp thingy) around 25-35mm and had a stinger in the rear (abdomen i think, don't quote, lil rusty on insects) same body shape as the jumping jack but not so flighty...
> 
> ...



Sounds like a blue bottle. They are a solitary, wingless wasp. Nasty looking things, apparently hurt like hell, but I've never had the pleasure.


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## christo (Apr 19, 2009)

DanTheMan said:


> The ants just cause more problems with people in Tassie due to weak genetic variation caused by inbreeding! :lol:



Statistically Queensland has a higher rate of incest than Tasmania.


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## missllama (Apr 19, 2009)

that doesnt surprise me haha
does anyone know what sort of big ant is a metalic green colour that we have here? i dont no what sort it is but i was stung by one when i was younger on the finger, and my finger went rock hard and burned like hell!

i thought id be smart and pick it up by the back of it... didnt work lol

some ants can be pretty nasty!


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## ReptilianGuy (Apr 21, 2009)

christo said:


> Sounds like a blue bottle. They are a solitary, wingless wasp. Nasty looking things, apparently hurt like hell, but I've never had the pleasure.



thats the one i found.... yeah very nasty looking up close but pretty in colour, the pic doesn't quite define it, and nice sized stinger as well... so a Blue Bottle thier called. cool and cheers aye


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## discomat (Apr 21, 2009)

christo said:


> Statistically Queensland has a higher rate of incest than Tasmania.


 
Pretty sure you cant get reliable statistics on numbers of inbreeding families in Australia. So your full of crap, plus he is from NZ so leave the QLDers alone.


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## DanTheMan (Apr 21, 2009)

christo said:


> Statistically Queensland has a higher rate of incest than Tasmania.





discomat said:


> Pretty sure you cant get reliable statistics on numbers of inbreeding families in Australia. So your full of crap, plus he is from NZ so leave the QLDers alone.



That's true but chill out its a joke!
Any way who needs family when you have sheep


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## Bax155 (Apr 21, 2009)

Use to see these alot as a kid and got tagged heaps but havnt seen them now for at least a decade or so!! It hurts but nothing to whinge about!!


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## christo (Apr 21, 2009)

discomat said:


> Pretty sure you cant get reliable statistics on numbers of inbreeding families in Australia. So your full of crap, plus he is from NZ so leave the QLDers alone.



So I'm pretty sure the comment was about as valid as the one about Tasmanians eh? And probably meant about as seriously.


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## christo (Apr 21, 2009)

shnakeyguy said:


> thats the one i found.... yeah very nasty looking up close but pretty in colour, the pic doesn't quite define it, and nice sized stinger as well... so a Blue Bottle thier called. cool and cheers aye



Yeah, beautiful looking things, but I've always kept my distance. No worries.


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## lizardking92 (Apr 21, 2009)

congo python you saw found this out by whatching nat geo or animal planet didnt you it was on alot this last week


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## python_heath (Apr 21, 2009)

Lol ive been bitten by these at my cousins place. They sting like hell but id hardly say it was an attack by the worlds most venomous ant. As much of an overstatement as this may seem the bite is still very painfull


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