Image of Monomorium antarcticum (Smith 1858)

Description:

I have photographed this ant colony a number of times, but didn't feel that I had a satisfactory closeup for a positive id. But this time I can see the jaws in one photo. These ants move at a measured pace not like other nearby ants that move very rapidly. I thought that all adult ants of a colony were the same size, but one of the ants here was noticeably smaller (see third photo) but appears to be the same species, and disappeared into the same nest entrance as the rest. They were busily gathering bite sized morsels from a discarded orange coloured waffle icecream cone. The colony was inside/behind a concrete or brick block wall joined with cement mortar holding up a sandy bank.