Pheidole
is the world's most species-rich ant genus. These myrmicine ants have a cosmopolitan distribution but are particularly diverse in the tropics, filling a number of niches from seed-harvesting to ant-plant symbionts. The genus is marked by a pronounced worker caste polymorphism; major workers are considerably larger than minors and have disproportionately large heads.
Pheidole obscurithorax stays ahead of the competition using group retrieval of food items (in this case, a scavenged wasp carcass). Working together the ants can usually get the bounty home before a more aggressive species usurps their find. Pheidole. obscurithorax is a regular competitor of Solenopsis fire ants, both in its native Argentina and along the U.S. gulf coast where both species have been introduced.
Entre Rios, Argentina
Pheidole obscurithorax stays ahead of the competition using group retrieval of food items (in this case, a scavenged wasp carcass). Working together the ants can usually get the bounty home before a more aggressive species usurps their find. Pheidole. obscurithorax is a regular competitor of Solenopsis fire ants, both in its native Argentina and along the U.S. gulf coast where both species have been introduced.
Entre Rios, Argentina
Canon EOS 20D |
Original size: 3452x2296 |
Current: 800x532 |
