Aluminium Casting of a Meat Ant Nest (Iridomyrmex purpureus) by Australian Ant Art™
www.facebook.com/australianantart

We have been at it again. About a year after our first attempt with a frame we have gone bigger and better. This casting was quite the challenge. It was a mound with 70 entrances. We bought in an excavator and filled up a ditch witch 8 times. That is 24000 L of sludge.

Meat ants are quite amazing. They can form super colonies covering a number of kilometres and housing thousands of ants. They can strip a carcass clean of all meat, preforming vital environmental work. Meat ants will also create foraging trails, easily visible due to the absence of vegetation, and ants will forage on these to trees they favour most. The trees are an important source of food and water, especially when days are hot and dry.

Meat Ants are Australia’s most successful ant.

Cast Dimensions:
Weight: Over 290 kg (640 lbs)
Height: 1000 mm (39")
Length: 3700 mm (145")
Width: 1650 mm (65")


Video:
Australian Ant Art
Matthew Cawood (UNE)
Anthony Broese van Groenou

Editing:
Australian Ant Art

Music:
"Furious Freak"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

Thanks to:
Liz for letting us take over her property for over a week and make a big mess.

Inglis Plumbing for the help with the excavator and ditch witch.