Pheidole sp. (genus)

Seed-harvesting ant at Bruce, ACT

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Identification history

	Pheidole sp. (genus)	6 Feb 2021	JonLewis
	Unidentified	6 Feb 2021	Roger

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User's notes

I have no idea what this ant is after looking at ALA and Mr Google, an ID would be really appreciated.

6 comments

JonLewis wrote:

6 Feb 2021

Hi Roger, these small ants are hard to photograph do you’ve done well. They often recruit lots of their nest mates when they find food and have small versions (minors) and much larger versions (majors or soldiers). Cheers, Jon

Roger wrote:

6 Feb 2021

Thanks Jon, we spent a lot of time trying to ID this guy nothing seemed to match, many thanks.

JonLewis wrote:

7 Feb 2021

Hi Roger, there are quite a few species in the region, varying a lot in colour, size and shininess. Cheers, Jon

WHall wrote:

7 Feb 2021

This comment from my ant entomologist friend in the US re the ID of this ant.

Genus Monomorium, perhaps M. eremophilum or M. disetigerum or a relative

Roger wrote:

7 Feb 2021

Thanks Bill, all I could come up with was a LBJ. Little Brown Joby!!

JonLewis wrote:

8 Feb 2021

Hi Bill, thanks to your friend for the suggestions. These small ants are hard to be sure about from a photo (though I should note that this is the best photo of an individual of this genus on CNM!). Monomorium often have smooth shiny heads and Pheidole often have dull, rough heads, but not always. There is a record of Pheidole on CNM of a very smooth and shiny example (Pheidole sp. (genus) (Seed-harvesting ant)) and we can be sure it is Pheidole by the presence of the small workers and large majors. In addition, Pheidole often have very prominent eyes, quite small in area but strongly raised from the surface of the head, as you can see in the photo, while Monomorium very rarely have eyes like this. Cheers, Jon

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Location information

Coordinates 149.094518 -35.261452
Altitude 657.7m
Maps Black Mountain
Places Bruce, ACT

Sighting information

4 - 15 Abundance
4 Feb 2021 09:53 AM Recorded on
Roger Recorded by
Collections
Insects Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Roger Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr

Additional information

Less than 5mm Animal size

Species information

Pheidole sp. (genus) Scientific name
Seed-harvesting ant Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 1141.89m Recorded at altitude
182 images trained Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes