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This is a large-sized ant that i found on the wall of my house. This ant is a species of Pheidole, and its body is completely black in color. The size of this ant is about 8 mm in length. This one is a soldier ant.
- Spotted on the wall of my house.
- This ant is from the Formicidae family. I hope, someone can help me to ID the species of this ant.
* Kingdom: Animalia
* Phylum: Arthropoda
* Class: Insecta
* Order: Hymenoptera
* Family: Formicidae
* Subfamily: Myrmicinae
* Genus: Pheidole
* Species: ???
Spotted on Feb 20, 2014
Submitted on Feb 20, 2014
10 Comments
Great Link Lanzz, thank you!
1296 species, -_-,... Maybe i should just leave it to genus level...
Here is another useful link - http://www.biologie.uni-ulm.de/cgi-bin/q....
Here are 1296 species of Pheidole, the Big-Headed Ants (Click on any one of the heads to see other pictures of that species):
http://www.antweb.org/images.do?genus=ph...
"The colonies, which are continuous, with no evident pheromone-based boundaries, and large numbers of fertile queens, are able to reach enormous size. In some areas, especially islands such as Madeira, Culebrita, and the Dry Tortugas, they form a virtually continuous supercolony that excludes most other ant species. They do best in relatively moist, disturbed habitats, thus thrive around human habitations and in cultivated land. Nest sites are highly variable, from within and beneath rotting logs and underneath rocks and sidewalk flagstones to the bark and trunk-based detritus of standing trees. Columns of foragers travel substantial distances from one nest site to another and to food sources. P. megacephala are aggressive toward other species, and war with populations of such locally dominant species as the Indo-Australian weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina and the cosmopolitan Argentine ant Linepithema humile (= Iridomyrmex humbles )". From Antweb.org
Wow, 1000 species... -_-, ... But i agree with you, this ant is look like from the genus Pheidole...
Thanks for that useful links...
You got bit by a Super Soldier! How unique!
I think this is a species of Pheidole, a genus that has 1000's of species worldwide and is known for producing "Super Soldiers" with enormous outsized heads. Here are some links that are really neat, talking about the evolution of these monstrous heads. The backward spine and petiole also fit this genus.
http://news.discovery.com/tech/old-genes...
http://www.myrmecos.net/2008/03/17/morea...
http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2008/02/29...
Strong jaws!! would not want a bite from that one!!
Yes, its hurt... :(
I release it back outside the house...
Thanks for the link...
Wow so impressive! Was it biting you? Maybe we can find this one on Ant.org.