Insects › Ants

Western Harvester Ant

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in Colorado.January 53, February 41, March 57, April 111, May 169, June 101, July 95, August 81, September 75, October 54, November 47, December 45.
United States6,636
Colorado1,140
Arizona563
Utah526
New Mexico387
Texas359
California144
Idaho142
Nevada132
Wyoming120

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Behavioral

  • EusocialLives in colonies with division of labor and cooperative brood careFrom its classification

Ecological

  • ColonialFrom its classification

Physical

  • ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification

Classification

KingdomAnimals · Animalia
PhylumArthropods · Arthropoda
ClassInsects · Insecta
OrderAnts, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies · Hymenoptera
FamilyAnts · Formicidae
GenusTypical American Harvester Ants · Pogonomyrmex

Sources

Remember the name next time.

Practise Western Harvester Ant with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.