jack jumper

English

Noun

jack jumper (plural jack jumpers)

1. (Australia) Any of various small species of ant of the genus Myrmecia, often capable of jumping and having a painful sting; a jumper. (Also used attributively.) [from 19th c.]
   • 2004, Nicholas Shakespeare, In Tasmania, Harvill Press, p. 261:

     Glancing back at Hordern's gravestone, I saw that the absent metal letters exposed a pattern of nail holes like woodworm. A jack-jumper ant crawled over his age – he was 63 – and disappeared into the nettles.