red ant

English

Noun

red ant (plural red ants)

  1. Any of various red-coloured ants. [from 8th c.]
    1. An ant of the genus Myrmica, especially the European red ant or common red ant (Myrmica rubra).
    2. (US) The pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis).
    3. (Australia) The meat ant (Iridomyrmex purpureus), endemic to Australia.
      • 2002, Victoria Finlay, Colour, Sceptre, page 51:
        Breakfast was the white heart of a sand palm – succulent and bitter-sweet – and for ‘jam’ we ate bush apples and red ants with green bottoms that were so full of vitamin C they tasted like stings.
    4. The red harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus), native to southwestern US.
    5. The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), native to South America, but broadly invasive.
    6. The European red wood ant (Formica polyctena or Formica pratensis).
    7. The red bull ant (Myrmecia gulosa).

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