What Is the Largest Ant in the World?

2 days ago

2 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Most ants you see in your garden are only a few millimetres long. But some ants are so big that you can easily see their eyes and jaws without a magnifying glass. So which ant is the largest in the world? The answer depends on what you measure: the biggest workers, the biggest queens, or the biggest ant that ever lived.

Dinoponera worker, one of the largest ants in the world — Dinoponera, one of the largest ants in the world.

The largest workers: Dinoponera

The heaviest and longest workers belong to Dinoponera, large hunting ants from the rainforests of South America. Workers of Dinoponera gigantea measure about 3.2 to 3.6 cm. Guinness World Records lists this species as the ant with the largest average size in a colony. Interestingly, Dinoponera colonies have no real queen: one mated worker lays the eggs. Colonies are small, with on average a few dozen workers.

Other giants

Bull ants (Myrmecia) from Australia, like Myrmecia brevinoda, are among the largest ants alive.
Giant forest ants from Southeast Asia (Dinomyrmex gigas, formerly Camponotus gigas) have huge major workers.
The bullet ant (Paraponera clavata) from Central and South America is big, and famous for its painful sting.

The largest queens: driver ants

If you look at queens, the African driver ants win. Queens of the genus Dorylus measure about 4 to 6 cm, depending on their condition. Guinness World Records lists Dorylus fulvus as the largest ant, with queens of up to 5 cm. These queens never fly and lay millions of eggs a month. Read more in our post about safari ants and driver ants. Want to see how these colonies hunt? Read how driver ants hunt.

The largest ant ever: Titanomyrma

The record holder lived about 49.5 million years ago. Fossils of Titanomyrma giganteum were found in the Messel pit in Germany. Its queens were about 6 cm long, with a wingspan of around 15 cm, about the size of a small bird.

Can you keep a giant ant?

Some large species are kept by experienced keepers, such as several bull ants and big Camponotus species. If you would like a large but easy ant, have a look at Camponotus singularis, one of the bigger species in the hobby. Take a look at our Camponotus singularis colonies too. Curious about the other end of the scale? Read what is the smallest ant in the world?.