13 replies to this topic

[Foogoo]

Habitat: Grassy field
Length: ~2-3mm
Color, hue, pattern and texture: Red head and thorax, dark gaster
Distinguishing characteristics: Polymorphic
Anything else distinctive: ---
Nest description: Mound

 

 

[Gregory2455]

Of what I can see, yes.

[Miles]

Yes, this is Pheidole.

[Foogoo]

Any clues on species? This is only the second time I've seen Pheidole. The other colony I saw a few weeks ago looked like mini Pogonomyrmex.

[Gregory2455]

I would think they are in the Fallax group.

[kellakk]

Did you collect this colony?  That's the Pheidole sp. that I see making mounds around here.

[antmaniac]

The major looks like Pheidole.

[dspdrew]

Looks like P. hyatti to me. They make mounds sometimes, and apparently are all over that area (assuming these were found in Chino Hills).

[kellakk]

I would agree, but none of the P. hyatti majors I've seen have dark gasters.  Some of the ones in the picture do.  Is that just some variability in the species then?

[Foogoo]

I would agree, but none of the P. hyatti majors I've seen have dark gasters.  Some of the ones in the picture do.  Is that just some variability in the species then?

 

Yes, I collected them. These weren't in one of those mounds but the nest was dug into soft ground. That was my thought too, these didn't seem to resemble the Pheidole we found in the mound.

[dspdrew]

Yeah, now that I think about it, they might be a bit small for P. hyatti. There's so many different Pheidole species, and they have such a variation in color, without putting them on a microscope, I don't think we're going to know exactly what species these are.

[Foogoo]

Do any of these photos of a dead minor help with identifying species?

 

 

[dspdrew]

Even the best microscope pictures in the world probably aren't going to help a whole lot considering how many Pheidole species there are around here.

[Gregory2455]

Looks like a Pheidole (fallax group) sp. minor worker.