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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Ants (Formicoidea) » Ants (Formicidae) » Myrmicinae » Attini » Big-headed Ants (Pheidole)
Photo#610358
Small orange-brown Ant with slender gaster, no major spikes, and a weird saddle ... - Pheidole
Copyright © 2012 Emile

Small orange-brown Ant with slender gaster, no major spikes, and a weird saddle ... - Pheidole
Palos Verdes Peninsula, Los Angeles County, California, USA
October 17, 2009
Size: ~~ 2 mm
Is this a Myrmicine Ant in genus Aphenogaster ?
None of the California species seems to match very well ...

And what's up with the "saddle" ?
Some ants have a structure somewhat resembling this, but their habitus is quite different ...

Images of this individual: tag all
Small orange-brown Ant with slender gaster, no major spikes, and a weird saddle ... - Pheidole Small orange-brown Ant with slender gaster, no major spikes, and a weird saddle ... - Pheidole Small orange-brown Ant with slender gaster, no major spikes, and a weird saddle ... - Pheidole
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Contributed by Emile on 31 January, 2012 - 9:49am
Last updated 31 January, 2012 - 12:10pm

Moved
Beetter check your millimeter rule, because I am quite certain this ant is far more than 2mm long. Anyway, difficult to get to species, but I'm confortable with the genus. The "saddle" is the constriction between the true throax and the propodeum, which though anatomically the first segment of the abdomen, looks like a thorax segment.
… James C. Trager, 31 January, 2012 - 12:10pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks a lot, James !
It's a privilege to have your expertise on BugGuide !

I spent a good amount of time on the superb AntWeb site today.

The length was indeed a rough (under)estimate.
I had not taken any notes on its length when I took these photos in 2009.
I just found a nest a few days ago in the same area, which I guess is the same species.
But the photos didn't come out that well.
Hence it triggered digging up the 2009 photos to post.

The word "saddle" was not well chosen, as I was trying to describe the large convex thorax with the two dark lateral spots.

Pheidole certainly looks very good (if one eliminates the large thoracic hump, which I don't see on any of the (AntWeb) Pheidole photos).

Based on habitat and range, only a few Pheidole species seem candidates.
A good(/best?) candidate appears to be P. pilifera, based also on habitus, except for the huge head which most Pheidole species appear to have; perhaps that is only the case for majors.

I hope we can eliminate adventives P. fervens and P. moerens.
… Emile, 31 January, 2012 - 2:47pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… John R. Maxwell, 31 January, 2012 - 9:59am login or register to post comments

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