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Cave Creek Canyon Road Trip Fall 2014: Big-Headed Ant Species
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Big-Headed Ants (Pheidole) Near Willcox, Arizona

Big-headed ants harvesting grains near Willcox, Arizona. The major workers appear more reddish that the black minor workers. These may belong to the Pheidole Pilifera Group.

  Antwiki Key To The Pheidole Pilifera Group  

Some Very Close-Up Views Taken With The Nikon D-90

The heads of major workers appear quite reddish. The minor wokers are only 2 mm in length, compared with a local San Marcos species (P. vistana) with minor workers up to 4.0 mm long.

View Through Bausch & Lomb Dissecting Microscpe

Magnified view of the head of a Pheidole major worker.

More Big-Headed Ants (Pheidole) Near Willcox, Arizona

Nest and big-headed ants harvesting grains near Willcox, Arizona. These may belong to the Pilifera-Group, including P. bicarinata, P. barbata, P. xerophila, and P. yaqui. The major workers appear more reddish that the black minor workers.

The above species of Pheidole appears to have only one size of major. Some Arizona species, such as P. tepecana, have majors with a strikingly massive head compared with its body. This is actually a supermajor (supersoldier) that is larger than regular majors. In fact, the latter species has 3 castes: minors, majors and supermajors. Most of the 1000+ species of Pheidole have only 2 castes, but apparently have the genetic potential (ancestral DNA) to produce supersoldiers. Biology professor Ehab Abouheif at McGill University in Montreal discovered that dabbing larvae with methoprene, a chemical that mimics juvenile hormone, will induce the development of supersoldiers. These large biting ants are presumably better able to defend the colony against invasions of aggressive army ants.

  See Image Of Pheidole tepicana by Alex Wild  

Compare With Pheidole vistana On Owens Pk In San Marcos, CA

Minor workers of P. vistana are very different from the tiny black workers of P. bicarinata. They have longer legs and bodies, and run much faster.

Big-Headed Ants In The Superstition Mtns

These may be the same species found near Willcox, Arizona.

More Studio Shots Of Preserved Ants To Come