虹琉璃蚁大部分会在土壤中筑巢，但有些也会住在石头下、朽木中，甚至是沙滩、人行道中[4]，某些物种会避免在沙质土壤中筑巢[28]，巢体外观多变，大部分是具有单个出入口的小型蚁丘，有些物种的巢体则是被卵石覆盖且具有多个出入口的大型蚁丘[4]，某些物种会筑出超级巢体，数个巢体彼此透过通道相连，长度可达650米[16]，曾经有个案例，有个群体占据了超过10公顷的地，总共有85个巢体和1500个出入口[29]。肉蚁不会攻击巢友，但是会攻击居住在不同巢体但同一群体的个体[30]。巢体可以是高于地表或低于地表，有些物种如 I. conifer 高于或低于地表的巢都有，冬天时它们会筑巢于树枝上，天气回暖时栖息在地下[16]，地下巢筑在食物充足的地区，冬天时群体会移居到阳光充足的地方[31]。
While most Iridomyrmex species are notable for their aggression, some are quite timid. This worker is moving pupae to a safer location instead of attacking intruders after the nest was exposed.
大部分的虹琉璃蚁习性凶悍，会主动攻击骚扰巢穴或是觅食时遇到的生物，特别是 I. purpureus 物种复合群的物种，它们会涌出巢穴杀死入侵者[4]；小型的物种也很凶悍，它们会喷洒虹琉璃蚁素（英语：iridomyrmecin）（iridomyrmecin），一种虹琉璃蚁属专有的防御物质[4]，虹琉璃蚁数量大，生性凶悍，活动力强，在澳洲是优势种，某些物种会占据资源，阻止其他昆虫前来取食[32]，它们数量多又活跃，甚至能影响其他蚂蚁的觅食行为[4]。
虽然虹琉璃蚁以凶悍著名，有些物种生性胆小，遭到骚扰只会逃离或躲藏，也会避免和其他蚂蚁接触[4]；如果巢穴受到攻击，它们不会反击，而是把幼虫搬走，然后什么也不做，它们会躲在落叶里或植物里，有些物种如 I. victorianus 遭受威胁时会静止不动[4]。
虹琉璃蚁是猎食者和清除者，它们也会和半翅目及鳞翅目幼虫互动以取得蜜露[4]，它们会猎食小型昆虫，取食花粉[4]，它们通常在地面上觅食，但大多数物种还会爬到植株上觅食；虹琉璃蚁大多数活动于昼夜，但有些是夜行性[4]，它们白天时会堵住出入口，如果天气合适，有些夜行性的物种也会在白天活动，但是有些物种，如 I. bigi 无论如何都不会在白天活动；有些物种会筑巢在没有阴影的地方，日出之后他们就可以晒太阳暖活身子，然后开始觅食[35]。
它们有时候会在白蚁丘里筑巢[36]，如此它们就可以就近捕食白蚁，除了捕食以外，目前没有任何证据显示白蚁和蚂蚁有任何交互作用[4]，有些免疫海蟾蜍毒素的物种会捕食未成年的海蟾蜍[37]，如 I. purpureus 和 I. ruburrus[38][39]，由于此特性，有人提议在海蟾蜍栖地释放虹琉璃蚁巢，以达到生物防治的目的。
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引用文本
Hölldobler, Bert; Wilson, Edward O. The Ants. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1990. ISBN 978-0-674-04075-5.
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