Location: Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Date: 30/07/20 (Winter)
Habitat, Macro: Suburban bordering gum forested foothills.
Habitat, Micro: Grass, dry dirt and rocks. Beneath a tree, but in the sun.
Length: ~10mm (i put a ruler next to one of their trails and they were almost exactly a cm in length)
Colouration: Black head and thorax, dark reddish-brown legs, shiny; golden tinted abdomen
Distinguishing characteristics: Two pairs of spines, one on upper and one on lower thorax, one visible petiole (a small bump, no spines).
Distinguishing behaviour: Yes, actually. They are gathering decomposing seeds, grass blades and other plant matter. There is quite a frenzy at what I assume is their nest, and they are only gathering crunchy bits of dried up leaves and seeds, so there is a constant crackling sound near their nest. Compared to most other ants (completely silent), this is quite noisy.
Nest: Seems to be under or nearby a large rock. They are taking decomposing and dried up bits of plants and dragging it into their nest.
Nuptial flight time and date: None yet. I will keep an eye on the little girls.
PHOTOS FOR ID
GATHERING LEAVES
(carrying a small bit of decaying leaf)
(biting at a dried blade of grass)
(closer to what i think is the entrance to the nest, a worker carries a large tuft of seeds)
(they really seem to like these little tufts)
MISC ECOLOGY
(following a chemical trail in the sun)
NEST
(a little closer, so you can see the ants themselves if you squint. there are a lot of them.)
my instinct is that they are polyrhachis ammon, but imo, the id does not match:
( https://www.antwiki....lyrhachis_ammon )
they have no spines on their petiole, they have additional spines on their upper thorax, the abdomen is much longer than the little bulb ammon has. i just do not think this is ammon, despite the strikingly similar hue.
