Bug FAQBlue Ant
Diamma bicolor
The blue ant is a large, solitary wasp with a metallic blue-green body and red legs. Females are wingless and up to 25 mm long, while males are smaller, about 15 mm, and have wings. It nests on the ground in south- and southeast-Australia, feeds on nectar, pollinates native flowers, and its females paralyze mole crickets to provision their larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It has a shiny metallic blue-green body and bright red legs.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females can grow up to about 25 mm (1 in) and lack wings. Males are smaller, roughly 15 mm (5⁄8 in), and possess wings.
Source: Wikipedia
Does it bite or sting?
They do not show aggression unless provoked. The female’s stinger is used to inject venom into a cricket, not humans.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They build nests in the ground. They are not aggressive unless they are provoked.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adult wasps drink nectar and help pollinate native Australian flowers such as Lomatia silaifolia. Females sting mole crickets to paralyze them, then lay an egg on the immobilised host for their larva to feed on.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Unlike other thynnid wasps, this species exclusively uses mole crickets as food for its larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Despite its name and wingless appearance, it is not an ant but a large solitary parasitic wasp.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What do they eat?
Adults feed on nectar and pollinate flowers, while females use a stinger to paralyze mole crickets for their larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_ant
Look it up elsewhere: iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.