Golden-tailed Bull Ant vs Tobacco Caterpillar Braconid

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Golden-tailed Bull Ant Tobacco Caterpillar Braconid
Scientific Name Myrmecia chrysogaster Microplitis demolitor
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Formicidae Braconidae
Size 15-22 mm 2-4 mm
Habitat Heathland Farmland
Diet Nectar Feeders Parasitoids
Regions Australia, Oceania North America, South America, Australia
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

Golden-tailed Bull Ant

A strikingly coloured bull ant with a distinctive golden-yellow gaster and reddish-brown head and thorax. Like other Myrmecia species, it possesses a powerful sting and excellent eyesight.

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Did You Know?

Unlike most ants, bull ant workers hunt individually rather than cooperatively, relying on their keen vision.

Tobacco Caterpillar Braconid

A small endoparasitoid wasp that injects polydnavirus along with its eggs into caterpillar hosts. It is an important natural enemy of soybean looper and corn earworm.

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Did You Know?

It injects a symbiotic virus along with its eggs that suppresses the caterpillar's immune system.