[2][3] Ants of this species are known for their ability to jump up to 10 centimetres, and they also have a powerful, venomous sting.

Abundant in eastern Australia, M. nigrocincta ants prefer temperate bushlands, and are usually located in dry to semi-dry forests and sclerophyll woodlands.

In New South Wales, this ant occurs in Lismore, Dorrigo, Armidale and Sydney (notably in the suburbs of Heathcote and Como), while in Victoria it is found in Trafalgar and Millgrove.

[5] The gaster, head, legs and mesonotum are black while the pronotum, propodeum, petiole and post-petiole are red.

[9][12] It has good vision and can be observed running amongst plants and leaves, occasionally jumping from one branch to another.

[4][12][14] M. nigrocincta has been observed to prey on the larvae of imperial hairstreak butterflies, even jumping while carrying them.

[16][17] Although Senna acclinis is self-compatible, the inability of M. nigrocincta to appropriately release pollen would restrict capacity to effect pollination.

[5] Depending on the type of habitat in which the colony is located, they decorate the nest with plant material and gravel.

[4] Other materials that are used to camouflage M. nigrocincta colonies include dry leaves, rocks, vegetation, and twigs.

In laboratory colonies of M. nigrocincta where there was no queen present, worker-laid eggs were reared to mature males, showing that workers are highly fertile.

[23] M. nigrocincta ants have highly venomous stings which are painful and produce intense burning sensations.

The venom of a closely related species, M. pilosula, is amongst the strongest of the Formicidae and contains active ingredients such as acid and alkaline phosphatases, hyaluronidase, as well as phospholipases A2 and B.

The study concluded that four main groups of Australian ants were responsible for causing anaphylaxis.