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The jack jumper ant (''Myrmecia pilosula''), commonly known as the hopper ant, jumper ant or jumping jack, is a species of venomous ant native to Australia. Most commonly found in Tasmania and southeast Australia, it is a member of the genus ''Myrmecia'', subfamily Myrmeciinae, and was formally described and named by British entomologist Frederick Smith in 1858. This species is known for the ability to jump long distances. These ants are large. Workers and males are approximately the same size: for workers, and for males. The queen measures approximately in length and is similar in appearance to workers, whereas males are identifiable by their perceptibly smaller mandibles. Jack jumper ants are primarily active during the day and live in open habitats, nesting in bushland, woodland and dry open forests, surrounded by gravel and sandy soil, which can be found in rural areas and are less common in urban areas. They prey on small insects and use their barbless stinger to kill other insects by injecting venom. Other ants and predatory invertebrates prey on the jack jumper. The average worker has a life expectancy of over one year. Workers are gamergates, allowing them to reproduce with drones, whether or not a queen is present in the colony. The ant is a part of the ''Myrmecia pilosula'' species complex; this ant and other members of the complex are known to have a single pair of chromosomes. Their sting generally only causes a mild local reaction in humans; however, it is one of the few ant species that can be dangerous to humans, along with other ants in the genus ''Myrmecia''. The ant venom is particularly immunogenic for an insect venom; the venom causes about 90% of Australian ant allergies. In endemic areas, up to 3% of the human population has developed an allergy to the venom and about half of these allergic people can suffer from anaphylactic reactions (increased heart rate, falling blood pressure, and other symptoms), which can lead to death on rare occasions. Between 1980 and 2000, there were four deaths due to anaphylaxis from jack jumper stings, all of them in Tasmania. Individuals prone to severe allergic reactions caused by the ant's sting can be treated with allergen immunotherapy (desensitisation). ==Taxonomy and etymology== The specific name derives from the Latin word ''pilose'', meaning 'covered with soft hair'.〔 The ant was first identified in 1858 by British entomologist Frederick Smith in his ''Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum part VI'', under the binomial name ''Myrmecia pilosula'' from specimens he collected in Hobart in Tasmania. There, Smith described the specimens of a worker, queen and male. The type specimen is located in the British Museum in London.〔 In 1922, American entomologist William Morton Wheeler established the subgenus ''Halmamyrmecia'' characterised by its jumping behaviour, of which the jack jumper ant was designated as the type species.〔 However, John Clark later synonymised ''Halmamyrmecia'' under the subgenus ''Proymrmecia'' in 1927 and placed the ant in the subgenus in 1943.〔 William Brown synonymised ''Promyrmecia'' due to the lack of morphological evidence that would make it distinct from ''Myrmecia'' and later placed the jack jumper ant in the genus in 1953.〔 One synonym for the species has been published – ''Ponera ruginoda'' (also titled ''Myrmecia ruginoda''), described by Smith in the same work, and a male holotype specimen was originally described for this synonym.〔 ''Ponera ruginoda'' was initially placed into the genera ''Ectatomma'' and ''Rhytidoponera'', but it was later classified as a junior synonym of the jack jumper ant, after specimens of each were compared.〔 The ant is a part of the ''Myrmecia pilosula'' species complex, a species group that was first defined by Italian entomologist Carlo Emery.〔 The species complex is a monophyletic group, where the species are closely related to each other but their actual genetic relationship is distant. Members of this group include ''M. apicalis'', ''M. chasei'', ''M. chrysogaster'', ''M. croslandi'', ''M. cydista'', ''M. dispar'', ''M. elegans'', ''M. harderi'', ''M. ludlowi'', ''M. michaelseni'', ''M. occidentalis'' ''M. queenslandica'', ''M. rugosa'' and ''M. varians''. Additional species that were described in this group in 2015 include ''M. banksi'', ''M. haskinsorum'', ''M. imaii'' and ''M. impaternata''. Their characteristic jumping motion when agitated or foraging inspires the common name "jack jumper", a behaviour also shared with other ''Myrmecia'' ants, such as ''Myrmecia nigrocincta''.〔 This is the most common name for the ant, along with "black jumper,"〔 "hopper ant",〔 "jumper ant", "jumping ant",〔 "jumping jack"〔 and "skipper ant". It is also named after the jumping-jack firecracker.〔 The species is a member of the genus ''Myrmecia'', a part of the subfamily Myrmeciinae. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「jack jumper ant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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