The head and thorax are typically coloured red-brown; the rear half of the abdomen is black and the mandibles brown-yellow.

Adults characteristically possess the long, powerful serrated mandibles and a venom-laced sting that is capable of causing severe pain for a couple of days.

[1] Colonies of M. gulosa ants have been recorded from Black Mountain, Brisbane, Fletcher, Stanthorpe and St. George in Queensland, and in New South Wales they have been recorded in Lismore, Armidale, Narrabri, Clarence River, Taree and in Sydney (in the suburbs of Como, Oatley and Liverpool).

[4] M. gulosa ants generally construct small mounds, and they prefer open areas where they are frequently seen foraging.

Their diet is supplemented by the workers' own trophic (infertile) eggs, which are commonly fed to the queen and larvae.