Red harvester ant See Talk page for copyright permission details File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
The red harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) is a large (5mm - 7mm) ant common in the southwest United States. They live off hoarded seeds. They can be aggressive and have a painful sting (see Pain Index). They are sometimes called fireants but are not related to the non-native fireant that is problematic in the southern states. Schmidt Sting Pain Index or The Justin O. Schmidt Pain Index was created by Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist. ... Species 266, see text Solenopsis is a genus of ant, of which there are 266 species. ...
External links
Red harvester ants (http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/l-5314.html)
The ant body consists of head, thorax, and abdomen, with the abdomen articulated to the thorax by means of an abdominal pedicel, or stalk.
Typically a “finder” ant, which forages for food, arouses the colony, and excited nestmates may be influenced in their direction of progress from the nest by one means or another, according to species.
Ants, particularly certain aphid-tending species, are frequent pests around lawns and gardens; however, the great benefit of these and other ants in aerating and mixing the soil must also be considered.
The main sources of food for harvesterants are seeds of different types of grasses and the bodies of insects and spiders (arthropods).
Harvesterants are very aggressive, but one reptile has the perfect defense: the armor of the horned lizard or "horny toad." Horned lizards feed almost exclusively on harvesterants.
The ants were part of an experiment to observe and study the effects of space flight and a weightless environment on the tunneling behavior of ants during a 16-day space shuttle flight.
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