red ant

plural red ants

1. Any of various red-coloured ants.
   1. An ant of the genus Myrmica, especially the European red ant or common red ant (Myrmica rubra).First known use 8th c.
   2. USThe pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis).First known use 8th c.
   3. AustraliaThe meat ant (Iridomyrmex purpureus), endemic to Australia.First known use 8th c.

      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.

      2002, Victoria Finlay, Colour, Sceptre, page 51

   4. The red harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus), native to southwestern US.First known use 8th c.
   5. The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), native to South America, but broadly invasive.First known use 8th c.
   6. The European red wood ant (Formica polyctena or Formica pratensis).First known use 8th c.
   7. The red bull ant (Myrmecia gulosa).First known use 8th c.