Pheidole

A pheidologist and his exploration of a hyperdiverse myrmicine clade

Queens and alates in Pheidole megacephala

I was fortunate enough to stumble on an emigration column of Pheidole megacephala. A long line of the ants were moving from one part of their territory to another part about 20 m away. In addition to the workers carrying larvae, pupae, and egg masses, I saw larger forms running along besides their more nimble nestmates.



Some of these larger forms were queens, their fat bodies not much larger than soldiers, but still quite distinctive. The other large forms were winged alates, none of them males though.

There is still some confusion about whether this species in its introduced ranges engages in nuptial flights, or whether it spreads only via budding of a cluster. There are some reports in FL of nuptial flights, but to be honest the distribution of the species indicates that even if there is, it’s not the main way they spread.



Another interesting thing is that the possible loss of genetic diversity in invasive unicolonial ant species (due to the loss of nuptial flights) would normally be a disadvantage, but these species have somehow succeeded anyways due to their ability to blanket an environment by producing lots of ants that do not waste energy and time fighting each other.

UPDATE: It looks like that line was a permanent foraging line and not an emigration one, although you do see reproductives moving between the two points daily.

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