Harvester Ant

Description:

Large red Ant with enormous mandibles. About 8 mm long. There were several of these foraging on a bush, probably collecting seeds. With their huge mandibles, they grind up the seeds they collect into a bread-like paste which they store in their nests as food. See this fascinating video of how an aluminum cast of a Harvester Ant nest was made and excavated: http://antark.net/ant-species/red-harves.... Some of these ants have even been sent into space! There is only 1 queen per nest and she can live up 30 years! See a second spotting of this ant in the southern part of the State: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/205....

Habitat:

Forest, Chorreadero Park, Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico.

Notes:

Pogonomyrmex barbatus is reported from Mexico right down to, but not including Chiapas. It is reported from Oaxaca and Veracruz, both states bordering Chiapas to the northwest and northeast so it is likely that is also occurs in Chiapas. P. guatemaltecus is reported from southern Mexico (no specific data), Guatemala and El Salvador. According to the key to species of Pogonomymex, (http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Key_to_North...) P. guatemaltecus has dark hair on the thorax and P. barbatus has light or clear hair on the thorax. I can't tell from my pictures with certainty whether the hair is dark or light because of the flash reflection. Regardless of which species it is, it will be of great interest to clarify it's status for the State of Chiapas. http://dugesiana.cucba.udg.mx/dugesiana_... http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Pogonomyrmex... https://www.antweb.org/images.do?genus=p.... http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/300459-P... http://naturalista.conabio.gob.mx/taxa/1... http://hymenopteragenome.org/pogonomyrme... http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Pogonomyrmex... http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Pogonomyrmex... http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/300459-P...