Harvester Ant

Pogonomyrmex barbatus

Scientific names

Pogonomyrmex barbatus (featured), Pogonomyrmex sp, Messor sp, Pheidole sp.

Distribution

Most Pogonomyrmex sp. are common across South West America, and occasionally found in Mexico.

Habitat

These ants typically live in dry desert like conditions. They favour exposed open areas for their underground nests which can be around 4.5 meters deep.

Diet

Mostly seeds from grasses but sometimes other insects too.

Colony size

Established colonies can have around 10 thousand ants.

Introduction

There are hundreds of different 'harvester ant' species found world wide. Pogonomyrmex barbatus is commonly known as the red harvester ant.

These ants use their large mandibles to grind seeds into a ‘bread’ which is placed in storage areas called ‘granaries’ found in their nest for year round food.

Worker ants can be found collecting seeds as far as 50-60 Km from their nest, they use their chemical scent trails to navigate back to the nest.

During 2003 some of these ants took part in a 16 day flight into space as part of an observational experiment performed by NASA.

A few Horned lizard species feed almost exclusively on Harvester ants. They have adapted ways to survive the ants stings and attacks. In some areas Harvester ants are being invaded by Argentine ants, as a result the Horned lizards have become an endangered species.

Harvester ants are known to aid seed dispersal via myrmecochory.