Pheidole megacephala

Japanese Name

Tsuya-oozu-ari

Fabricius, J.C. (1793) Entomologia Systematica emendata et aucta. Secundum classes, ordines, genera, species adjectis synonimis, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus 2: 519 pp. Hafniae.

Formica megacephala Fabricius (Fabricius, 1793) , Pheidole megacephala Roger (Roger, 1863) ,

Total length of body around 3.5 mm in soldiers, around 2 mm in workers. Head and gaster dark brown, body otherwise brown. In soldiers: gular dentition with paired lateral projections but lacking median projections; posterior portion of head without sculpture, smooth and shining. In workers: posterior portion of head rounded, with more or less distinct occipital carina; gular dentition undeveloped; the remainder as in soldier.

P. megacephala is easily distinguished from other Japanese Pheidole species by the sculpturing of the head in soldiers and the shape of the promesonotum in soldiers and workers. This ant is found worldwide in the tropics and subtropics. It is generally considered to be of Afrotropical origin and to have been dispersed by human commerce. In Japan, it occurs on Okinawa Island and southwards in open land, sugar-cane fields and coastal barrens, nesting in the soil, often under stones or logs. Minato et al. (1990) observed hygienic behavior involving the heaping away from nests of bodies of dead colony members by this ant.

Nansei Is; pantropical, subtropical.