Bull Ant or Jack Jumper? What Is the Difference?

Nov 3

2 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

In Australia you hear both names: bull ant and jack jumper. Are they different ants? Yes and no. Jack jumpers are bull ants too, but they are a special group within the genus Myrmecia. Here is how they differ from the large bull ants most people picture.

Myrmecia pyriformis bull ant — Myrmecia pyriformis, one of the large bull ants.

All jack jumpers are bull ants

All bull ants belong to the genus Myrmecia. "Jack jumper" is the name for a few smaller, jumping species, the best known being Myrmecia pilosula. Its close relatives, such as Myrmecia croslandi, are also called jack jumpers. The orange and black Myrmecia nigrocincta is known as the jumper ant or jumping jack. So every jack jumper is a bull ant, but not every bull ant is a jack jumper.

Size and colour

Jack jumper workers are around 12 to 14 mm long, black or blackish red with yellow or orange legs and jaws. The classic bull ants are much larger: Myrmecia gulosa can reach 3 cm, and Myrmecia brevinoda almost 4 cm. These large species are often red and black.

Jumping

Jack jumpers can jump. By suddenly stretching their middle and hind legs, they leap 5 to 8 cm, and the jumper ant Myrmecia nigrocincta even up to 10 cm. Most large bull ants walk or run and do not jump.

The sting

Both sting, and both can sting more than once. In practice, jack jumpers are more of a problem for people: they cause around 90 percent of ant venom allergies in Australia. Read more in jack jumper ant allergy.

Where you find them

Jack jumpers are most common in Tasmania and southeastern mainland Australia, in open woodland, grassland, gardens and lawns, often at higher elevations. Large bull ants are found across much of Australia, depending on the species.

Read more about Myrmecia pilosula, the jack jumper, Myrmecia nigrocincta or the large Myrmecia gulosa. Or see all species in bull ant species: an overview.