Pogonomyrmex

is an iconic ant of deserts and other arid habitats in North and South America. These conspicuous insects are normally granivorous, playing ecologically important roles as scavengers and seed dispersers. Pogonomyrmex is also known for having a uniquely painful sting.

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A harvester ant worker (Pogonomyrmex rugosus) pulls grass seeds off the stalk. Ants store the seeds in underground chambers to carry them through times of drought.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

A Pogonomyrmex rugosus worker shows off her psammophore, the basket of long hairs on the underside of her head used for carrying sand grains. This structure enticed Austrian taxonomist Gustav Mayr to name this genus Pogonomyrmex, or "bearded ant".

Tucson, Arizona, USA

A busy nest of Pogonomyrmex rugosus harvester ants in urban Tucson.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

A nest of harvester ants comes to life at dusk in urban Tucson. Pogonomyrmex rugosus.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

One of the strangest recorded ant phenomena is a hybrid zone between two species of harvester ants in the western United States. Pogonomyrmex rugosus and Pogonomyrmex barbatus apparently hybridized in the ancient past, leading to a pair of genetically complex daughter lineages that continually need to cross with each other in order to make worker ants. The queens and males remain genetically separate. Young queens need to mate with their own species to produce more queens and males, and with the other species to produce workers.

This image shows a hybrid worker leaving the nest.

Portal, Arizona, USA

A harvester ant worker (Pogonomyrmex rugosus) pulls grass seeds off the stalk. Ants store the seeds in underground chambers to carry them through times of drought.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

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Keywords: desert grass seeds insects formicidae myrmicinae harvester ants pogonomyrmex worker ants granivory psammophore pogonomyrmex rugosus rough harvester ant desert ecology ant workers

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Pogonomyrmex

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