ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Messor cephalotes]

My information comes from "A NOTE ON PHEIDOLE (MACROPHEIDOLE) RHEA WHEELER" by Robert E. Gregg in Psyche 56 : 70 - 73 (1949)

[armyoforigin]

My information comes from "A NOTE ON PHEIDOLE (MACROPHEIDOLE) RHEA WHEELER" by Robert E. Gregg in Psyche 56 : 70 - 73 (1949)

I have just read it.

It was written in 1949 an does point out the considerable diversity within the P. rhea species.
I am taking this information with a grain of salt. AKA it is not exact.
Thanks for directing me towards it! =)

[miszt]

HW=head width

Thanks Phasmid =) from what I have seen from some images of supermajors, here: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

They may even have a larger HW.

It is really hard to find information on ant species, in general unfortunately. =(

antweb.org and antbase.org have a pretty comprehensive database of species

[Phasmid]

Damn! I was hoping to get a queen when I come back from holiday but hes sold out .

[kashmir79]

Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

yeh their quite chunky Queens 12-13mm and supermajors stumble over alot. because of the size and weight of their head

i should be getting my queen next week.

[gabranth]

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /o4/27/629727/1/55110277.Pheidolerhea5.jpg on this server.

[kashmir79]

the link worked for me

[armyoforigin]

the link worked for me

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /o4/27/629727/1/55110277.Pheidolerhea5.jpg on this server.
Apache/2.0.58 (Unix) Server at i.pbase.com Port 80

It does not work for me either.

[kashmir79]

go to google images type in Pheidole Rhea

theres a great pic of two Black workers, 1 minor, 1 supermajor

[armyoforigin]

go to google images type in Pheidole Rhea

theres a great pic of two Black workers, 1 minor, 1 supermajor

I tried that and had no luck. =(

And besides in our (Me and kashmir79) captive colonies, I doubt we will see supermajors for a while hehe Or even majors.
But as long as we give them proper care and attention they should grow rapidly. I am looking forward to getting my queen so much

[JimmyVe]

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/1669351_ ... 7794_hv8ap

This is the picture that Kashmir was talking about. Take a look at that website there are really great pictures there.

[kashmir79]

cheers Jimmy

[armyoforigin]

Well that site is not as good as Alex Wilds main site (I presume it is his main one?) it has amazing pictures of ants, lots too
Here is the link: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar
This page specifically has pictures of Pheidole: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar
On that page there are 5 pictures of Pheidoel Rhea, however the reason I got confused by kashmir79's post was that he said there was "two Black workers, 1 minor, 1 supermajor". I misunderstood and thought that he meant 2 workers (Minors) another minor and a supermajor.
Sorry for the mistake

Here is another excellent site for photographs: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar
And specifically the Pheidole Rhea page: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

If you look on here you can see minors, majors and supermajors

From the pictures it seems the supermajors have big blunt mandibles for cracking seeds whereas the majors have 'normal' serrated/sharp mandibles for cutting.

This of course makes perfect sense, but also confuses me slightly as to why P. Rhea supermajors are in the foraging columns at all?
All the seed cracking happens back at the nest. And although there mandibles could crush insects they are useless for much else... Maybe they are specifically there for insect defence and carrying large items?
Though I assume this only happens in established nests

By the way does anyone have any idea of the colony size (Minimum - Maximum) of P. Rhea. All I know is that it is large as Pheidole species are extremely prolific.

Enjoy the pictures!

P.s. Apparently P. Pallidula colonies can grow to be 100,000 strong? I know there are Pallidula topics but I am pretty sure that none of them have the answer

Cheers.

[kashmir79]

well if a colony gets supermajors (shows that a colony is semi-mature) then i assume its in the 1000's or maybe 100,000's

im getting my queen on wednesday now, was supposed to be tuesdbay

oh well

god things come to those who wait

[armyoforigin]

well if a colony gets supermajors (shows that a colony is semi-mature) then i assume its in the 1000's or maybe 100,000's

im getting my queen on wednesday now, was supposed to be tuesdbay

oh well

god things come to those who wait

I think it is worth the wait

And you know that she is in good hands until she reaches you

I would assume that it is indeed in the 10,000's or 100,000's.

I will *hopefully* (Crosses fingers) be getting my queen on Thursday/Friday

I can't wait!