Jack of jumper ants

By CASEY NEILL
EMERALD’S Peter Weatherhead is warning others to watch out for Jack Jumper ants after a life-threatening sting landed him in hospital.
The 88-year-old has received stings from the aggressive ants about 10 times in his lifetime and has a severe allergic reaction.
He now has a system – he carries an EpiPen to deliver a shot of adrenaline while he waits for an ambulance to transport him to hospital – but worries other victims might not be so lucky.
“I fear there are more people who are allergic than are aware,” he told the Mail.
Mr Weatherhead’s latest encounter was in his backyard on 11 September – much earlier in the year than they’re usually active.
“They like a warm day,” he said.
“I wasn’t expecting them.”
He was wearing gloves and boots but received one sting to his ankle and another on his hand.
His cleaner helped him call an ambulance and administer the adrenaline shot needed to halt the sting’s effects.
“It’s quite a sharp pain where they bite me. Then I start to sort of flash up,” he said.
“I worry I’ll find myself choking with the inflammation.
“It reaches my face quite quickly.”
Mr Weatherhead was under observation in the Angliss Hospital for about five hours before he was allowed to return home.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” he said.
“It knocked me around a bit this time.”
He said the ants “look like a very large version of an ordinary ant but they move around rather quickly”.
“They send out individual scouts. You don’t have to be on top of a nest to encounter them,” he said.
“They don’t worry about you coming along and disturbing them. They’re territorial.”
The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) said Jack Jumper ants were generally 10 to 15 millimetres long with a black body and orange/brown jaws and limbs, and often displayed jerky, jumping movements.
They grasp their victim in their jaws, then bend and sting them.
They live in underground nests that are often difficult to find but hunt alone and can make their way into people’s homes.
Their sting can cause swelling at the sting site and in severe cases, a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction that includes swelling and difficulty breathing.
Deaths from Jack Jumper ant stings and anaphylaxis have occurred in Australia.
Anyone stung should seek urgent medical assistance.