Pheidole

Exploring a hyperdiverse myrmicine clade

  • Pheidole obscurithorax and Pheidole parva: Let the Big Girls Play

    Pheidole obscurithorax is the largest Pheidole species in Florida, whereas Pheidole parva is one of the smaller exotic species that is new to the area. Whereas the majors of P. obscurithorax can have total lengths of more than 6 mm and head widths of more than 1.7 mm, the tinier P. parva majors have head…

  • Drunken Camponotus

    I can’t figure out these Carpenter Ants (Camponotus floridanus?). They are much larger than the Pheidole megacephala minors and majors, and could probably avoid them altogether or run right through their foraging lines. But in at least three instances that happened over the span of three days, the giants tried to fight and ended up…

  • Behavioral dominance vs Numerical Dominance vs Ecological Dominance

    During my readings on ant behavior, there were some terms that cropped up that I was not quite sure about. Unfortunately, most of the papers seemed to assume reader familiarity with them, but my background is not ecology, so I had to search for some clarification. In the interest of perhaps helping those who also…

  • Some notes on combat behavior of Pheidole megacephala

    I have been monitoring and studying a small Pheidole megacephala cluster the last month, and during that time was present during three instances of direct aggression between it and another species. I will add here a few notes on what I have observed during those three instances. (1) The main tactic of PM is one…

  • Pheidole megacephala: An Opportunity to Observe Territorial Behavior Part Deux

    A few weeks back, I mapped the control of an island using baits of cookies placed along the borders of the island. The island was mostly controlled by the P. megacephala, but some baits were taken over by a small Pheidole sp, Solenopsis invicta, and a Crematogaster sp. (see image 1 below). Three weeks later,…

  • The Empire Strikes Back Part Deux: Solenopsis invicta invasion

    The first part of this ongoing saga is here. Pics were taken at dusk, so may not be optimal. At dusk I returned and the Pheidole megacephala (PM) were trying to reform the trail (line) it had from the north to the node located under the vegetation (see Image 2). A line of PM from…