Portrait of a Meranoplus worker ant.

Yandoit, Victoria, Australia
A disorderly pile of dirt marks the entrance of a small Meranoplus ant nest.

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
A disorderly pile of dirt marks the entrance of a small Meranoplus ant nest.

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
Portrait of a Meranoplus worker showing the distinctive thoracic shield that characterizes this genus.

Yandoit, Victoria, Australia
Portrait of a Meranoplus worker ant.

Yandoit, Victoria, Australia
Meranoplus sp. shield ants.

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
A Meranoplus shield ant carries a bit of soil from a nest excavation.

Peebinga Conservation Park, South Australia
Meranoplus sp. shield ant.

Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia
Meranoplus unicolor.  An Australian harvester ant carries a seed back to her nest.

Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia
Portrait of a Meranoplus worker ant.

Yandoit, Victoria, Australia
Portrait of a Meranoplus worker ant.

Yandoit, Victoria, Australia
Portrait of a Meranoplus worker ant.

Yandoit, Victoria, Australia
See photo in original gallery.
all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013