<hw>Bull-ant</hw>, <i>n</i>. contracted and common form of the words <i>Bull-dog Ant</i> (q.v.).
<hw>Bull-dog Ant</hw>, <i>n</i>. (frequently shortened to <i>Bull-dog</i> or <i>Bull-ant</i>), an ant of large size with a fierce bite. The name is applied to various species of the genus <i>Myrmecia</i>, which is common throughout Australia and Tasmania.
1878. Mrs. H. Jones, `Long Years in Australia,' p. 93:
"Busy colonies of ants (which everywhere infest the country). . . One kind is very warlike—the `bull-dog': sentinels stand on the watch, outside the nest, and in case of attack disappear for a moment and return with a whole army of the red-headed monsters, and should they nip you, will give you a remembrance of their sting never to be forgotten."
1888. Alleged `Prize Poem,' Jubilee Exhibition:
"The aborigine is now nearly extinct,
But the bull-dog-ant and the kangaroo rat
Are a little too thick—I think."
1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 142:
"Where the wily free-selector walks in armour-plated pants,
And defies the stings of scorpion and the bites of bull-dog
ants."
<hw>Bull-dog Shark</hw>, i.q. <i>Bull-head</i> (1) (q.v.).
<hw>Bull-head</hw>, <i>n</i>. The name is applied to many fishes of different families in various parts of the world, none of which are the same as the following two. (1) A shark of Tasmania and South Australia of small size and harmless, with teeth formed for crushing shells, <i>Heterodontus phillipi</i> , Lacep., family <i>Cestraciontidae</i>; also called the <i>Bull-dog Shark</i>, and in Sydney, where it is common, the <i>Port-Jackson Shark</i> : the aboriginal name was <i>Tabbigan</i>. (2) A freshwater fish of New Zealand, <i>Eleotris gobioides</i>, Cuv.and Val., family <i>Gobiidae</i>. See <i>Bighead</i>.