On November 19, 2013, I finally confirmed the identity of the ants that sparked my interest in natural history more than 70 years before. They were big-headed ants of the genus Pheidole. I base my conclusions on a nest that I discovered on Owens Peak in San Marcos, CA. Not only did the workers have the same general size, shape and color, they even emitted the same peculiar odor when agitated that I clearly remember as a child. I was an avid collector of "kinds of things," including rocks, sea shells, pine (conifer) cones, bullet shells (casings), match books, and even nails. But I truly believe that the big-headed ants that fascinated me during my formative years were a major factor leading to a career in biology. I am dedicating this page to them.

Pheidole is one of the largest genera of ants with a worldwide distribution, especially the tropics. It is certainly an evolutionary success story, both ecologically and in terms of species diversity, with more than 1100 described species (and an estimated 1500 species). In his book Pheidole in the New World (2003), E.O. Wilson describes 625 species, including 818 pages and 650 illustrations. There is a marked difference in the worker caste sizes (majors and minors). Majors have an unusually large head in proportion to their body. In fact, this group is often referred to as big-headed ants. Most of the 1000+ species of Pheidole have only 2 castes, but apparently have the genetic potential (ancestral DNA) to produce supermajors (supersoldiers) with even bigger heads. These large biting ants are presumably better able to defend the colony against invasions of aggressive army ants. Pheidole is such an enormous and complex genus that a subdivision of myrmecology called pheidology is dedicated solely to members of this genus. In fact, one who studies big-headed ants is a pheidologist!

Several years ago I started a Wayne's Word web page dedicated to ants of Twin Oaks Valley. I placed pitfall traps along the dirt bridle path in front of my home. Thanks to some brilliant entomology professors I met on the Internet, I was able to identify most of my specimens, at least to genus. One of the reasons I caught so many interesting species, some from tropical regions, is undoubtedly all the wholesale nurseries near my neighborhood. Ants are readily transported in potted plants, and I have even found them in the corrugations of boxes. Many delivery trucks arrive daily at these large nurseries near my home.

One of the most interesting ants I occasionally found in my traps was tentatively identified as Pheidole californica, a minute ant in the genus that inspired me at age 10. I have seen the nest entrances of other Pheidole species on Owens Peak, Palomar College and throughout the Colorado Desert of California & Arizona; however, I never could verify a nest of this species in front of my home until Wed. night (19 June, 2024). It is now clear to me why I never noticed the nest of these minute ants: They Are Nocturnal! The following text and images are about this remarkable ant species at my home in San Marcos, CA.

Based on images from Antwiki & iNaturalist, and personal communication with Phil Ward (UC Davis), I feel reasonably certain it is Pheidole californica; however, P. clementensis may occur in the coastal sage scrub at nearby Palomar College. In his monograph, Pheidole authority E.O. Wilson states that P. clementensis is nocturnal, but I have not seen this in descriptions of P. californica.