Big-headed Ant Pheidole sp. Westwood, 1839    
Kingdom Animalia   >   Phylum Arthropoda   >   Class Insecta   >   Order Hymenoptera   >   Family Formicidae   >   Genus Pheidole   

Status:

"Cosmopolitan, but particularly diverse in the tropics; in the New World, n. US to Argentina. ... This is probably the largest genus of ants in the world, possibly rivaled only by Camponotus, both with an unknown number, but easily over 1000 species. They have pronounced worker caste dimorphism, especially in seed harvesting species; major workers are larger than minors and have disproportionately large heads. A few species have an even larger supermajor caste, and are thus trimorphic. Scavenger predators are usually less strongly dimorphic, and longer legged than the seed harvesters" (BugGuide).

There are 9 records in the project database.

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A Big-headed Ant in Baltimore Co., Maryland (7/21/2018). Determined by Brenden E. Boudinot/BugGuide. Photo by Emily Stanley. (MBP list)

A male Big-headed Ant in Cecil Co., Maryland (7/6/2016). Determined by James C. Trager/BugGuide. Photo by Shannon Schade. (MBP list)

Big-headed Ant in Dorchester Co., Maryland (9/7/2018). (c) Timothy Reichard, all rights reserved. Photo by Timothy Reichard. (MBP list)

Big-headed Ant in Dorchester Co., Maryland (9/7/2018). (c) Timothy Reichard, all rights reserved. Photo by Timothy Reichard. (MBP list)

Big-headed Ant in Somerset Co., Maryland (7/22/2022). (c) Jim Brighton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)

Big-headed Ant in Worcester Co., Maryland (8/6/2022). (c) Jim Brighton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)

Big-headed Ant in Somerset Co., Maryland (7/22/2022). (c) Jim Brighton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)


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