Pogonomyrmex rugosus

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Pogonomyrmex rugosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Pogonomyrmecini
Genus: Pogonomyrmex
Species group: barbatus
Species: P. rugosus
Binomial name
Pogonomyrmex rugosus
Emery, 1895

Pogonomyrmex rugosus casent0102896 profile 1.jpg

Pogonomyrmex rugosus casent0102896 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen Label

Synonyms


Common Name
Rough Harvester Ant
Language: English

This species forms large crater-like mounds similar to those of Pogonomyrmex barbatus. Rarely it forms a small mound a few cm higher than the surface of the ground. Nests are large, containing several thousand workers. Workers are individual or group foragers, depending on the conditions. Food sources are primarily seeds (especially those of Erodium cicutarium), but also includes dead insects. The soil surface temperature limits foraging activity. The myrmecophilous scarabaeid beetle genus Cremastocheilus occurs in the nests. These ants deposit seed hulls and other debris around the edge of the mound, where it is eaten by tenebrionid beetles of the Genus Eleodes. The black widow spider is one of the main predators of this species. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)


Photo Gallery

  • Pogonomyrmex rugosus male leaving his nest during a massive nuptial flight. New Mexico, 27 July 2020. Photo by Tyler Star.
  • Pogonomyrmex rugosus worker, Peach Springs, Arizona, 18 May 2023, Photo by Zane Holditch.

Identification

Its color (and large size, over 8-mm total length) usually separates it from all others in the genus: dark brown, almost black head and mesosoma with a somewhat lighter colored gaster. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Keys including this Species

Distribution

United States: southern California, Nevada, New Mexico, southwestern (Washington Co.) and east central (Grant Co.) Utah, southwestern, southeastern and east central Colorado, western part of Oklahoma panhandle (Cimarron Co.), Texas (western part of panhandle, Big Bend region, and along the Rio Grande to Hildago Co.). Mexico: Tamaulipas, Nueva Leon, Coachuila, Zacatecas, Aguacalientes, Nayarit, Durango, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Sonora, Baja California.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 41.975481° to 16.753°.

     
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (type locality).
Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
pChart

Habitat

Found primarily in Chihuahuan Desert communities, including grasslands, creosotebush scrub and riparian habitats. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Biology

Genetics

The genome of P. rugosus was sequenced for a study examining how parasitic ants with no worker caste may have altered their genome to arrive at a workerless state. In comparison to ants with a full complement of castes, there appeared to be no loss of genes in the parasitic ants. This suggests regulatory differences and not sequence differences predominate in gains and losses of castes (phenotypes). (Smith et al. 2015)

Flight Period

X X X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: antkeeping.info.

Association with Other Organisms

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Other Ants

A host species for the workerless social parasites Pogonomyrmex anergismus and Pogonomyrmex colei.

Coleoptera

This species is a prey for the tiger beetle Cicindelidia obsoleta (a predator) in United States (Valenti & Gaimari, 2000; Polidori et al., 2020).

Life History Traits

  • Queen number: monogynous (Rissing and Pollock, 1988; Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)
  • Queen mating frequency: multiple (Rissing and Pollock, 1988; Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)

Castes

Worker

MCZ-ENT00022836 Pogonomyrmex barbatus var marfensis hef.jpgMCZ-ENT00022836 Pogonomyrmex barbatus var marfensis hal.jpgMCZ-ENT00022836 Pogonomyrmex barbatus var marfensis had.jpgMCZ-ENT00022836 Pogonomyrmex barbatus var marfensis lbs.jpg
Syntype of Pogonomyrmex barbatus marfensisWorker. . Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.
MCZ-ENT00034754 Pogonomyrmex barbatus rugosus hef.jpgMCZ-ENT00034754 Pogonomyrmex barbatus rugosus hal.jpgMCZ-ENT00034754 Pogonomyrmex barbatus rugosus had.jpgMCZ-ENT00034754 Pogonomyrmex barbatus rugosus lbs.jpg
Syntype of Pogonomyrmex barbatus rugosusWorker. . Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Mcz-ent00668813 Pogonomyrmex rugosus hef.jpgMcz-ent00668813 Pogonomyrmex rugosus hal.jpgMcz-ent00668813 Pogonomyrmex rugosus had.jpgMcz-ent00668813 Pogonomyrmex rugosus lbs.JPG
Worker. . Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Pogonomyrmex rugosus casent0102896 head 1.jpgPogonomyrmex rugosus casent0102896 profile 1.jpgPogonomyrmex rugosus casent0102896 dorsal 1.jpgPogonomyrmex rugosus casent0102896 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0102896. Photographer Jen Fogarty, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Pogonomyrmex rugosus casent0005708 head 1.jpgPogonomyrmex rugosus casent0005708 profile 1.jpgPogonomyrmex rugosus casent0005708 dorsal 1.jpgPogonomyrmex rugosus casent0005708 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0005708. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by UCDC, Davis, CA, USA.

Queen

Mcz-ent00668684 Pogonomyrmex rugosus queen hef.jpgMcz-ent00668684 Pogonomyrmex rugosus queen hal.jpgMcz-ent00668684 Pogonomyrmex rugosus queen had.jpgMcz-ent00668684 Pogonomyrmex rugosus queen lbs.JPG
Queen. . Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • fuscatus. Pogonomyrmex barbatus var. fuscatus Emery, 1895c: 309 (w.q.) U.S.A. Subspecies of barbatus and senior synonym of curvispinosus, marfensis: Creighton, 1950a: 119. Junior synonym of barbatus: Cole, 1954b: 117; of rugosus: Cole, 1968: 70.
  • rugosus. Pogonomyrmex barbatus subsp. rugosus Emery, 1895c: 309 (w.m.) U.S.A. Cole, 1968: 72 (q.); Taber, Cokendolpher & Francke, 1988: 51 (k.). Raised to species: Cole, 1968: 70. Senior synonym of similis: Creighton, 1950a: 120; of fuscatus (and its junior synonyms curvispinosus, marfensis), spadix: Cole, 1968: 70.
  • marfensis. Pogonomyrmex barbatus var. marfensis Wheeler, W.M. 1902a: 98 (diagnosis in key) (w.) U.S.A. Junior synonym of fuscatus: Creighton, 1950a: 119.
  • similis. Pogonomyrmex similis Olsen, 1934: 512, pl. 6, fig. 2 (w.) U.S.A. Junior synonym of rugosus: Creighton, 1950a: 120.
  • curvispinosus. Pogonomyrmex barbatus subsp. curvispinosus Cole, 1936b: 120 (w.) U.S.A. Junior synonym of fuscatus: Creighton, 1950a: 119.
  • spadix. Pogonomyrmex barbatus subsp. spadix Cook, 1953: 98, figs. (w.) U.S.A. Junior synonym of rugosus: Cole, 1968: 70.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

Cole (1968) - HL 1.67-2.47 mm, HW 1.75-2.70 mm, CI 93.8-115.2, SL 1.18-1.67 mm, SI 60.5-71.9, EL 0.34-0.65 mm, EW 0.19-0.42, OI 17.8-28.5, WL 1.75-2.96 mm, PNL 0.34-0.72 mm, PNW 0.38-0.68 mm, PPL 0.38-0.67 mm, PPW 0.53-0.87 mm.

Mandible similar to that of Pogonomyrmex barbatus; subapical and first basal teeth subequal in length; ultimate basal tooth much longer than penultimate, strongly offset from the straight basal margin.

Base of antennal scape as shown in Pl. IV, Fig. 1 5 not discernibly different from that of barbatus. Thoracic, petiolar, and postpetiolar contours in lateral view as illustrated in Pl. V, Fig. 7; pronotum generally less evenly convex than that of barbatus, its dorsum usually flattened; epinotal armature as in barbatus.

Cephalic rugae coarse, wavy, widely and rather unevenly spaced; interrugular spaces shining to subopaque, with broken rugules, granulations, and often also with prominent punctures. Thoracic rugae coarse, especially on the pronotum where they are very strong, uneven, and form very coarse reticulations with deep, flattened interrugal spaces. Rugae on petiolar and postpetiolar nodes strong, uneven, forming definite reticulations.

Body color varying from a rather uniform, very deep brownish black or brownish red to various combinations of brown, brownish red, dark red, yellowish red, and brownish black.

Queen

Cole (1968) - HL 2.05-2.20 mm, HW 2.43-2.66 mm, CI 117.3-121.9, SL 1.52-1.63 mm, SI 60.2-63.2, EL 0.57-0.61 mm, EW 0.38-0.16 mm, OI 27.7-28.6, WL 3.53-3.80 mm, PNL 0.57-0.68 mm, PNW 0.68-0.80 mm, PPL 0.53-0.61 mm, PPW 1.10-1.18 mm.

Similar to the female of Pogonomyrmex barbatus, except cephalic and scutal rugae much coarser and notably more widely spaced, dorsum of the petiolar node prominently rugo-reticulose, body color generally black, reddish black, or deep reddish brown, with the gaster often in part or entirely much paler.

Male

Cole (1968) - HL 1.33-1.69 mm, HW 1.64-1.92 mm, CI 113.5-123.4, SL 0.55-0.68 mm, SI 32.1-35.4, EL 0.52-0.60 mm, EW 0.34-0.42 mm, OI 35.3-39.1, WL 2.34-2.94 mm, PNL 0.39-0.44 mm, PNW 0.62-0.78 mm, PPL 0.17-0.57 mm, PPW 0.70-0.91 mm.

Similar to the male of barbatus, but inner dorsal margin of paramere (Pl. X, Fig. 11) without a deep emargination, the terminal lobe not set off strongly from the base; terminal parameral lobe as shown in Pl. XI, Fig. 12. Body color generally a fuscus yellow or brown, somelimes nearly black.

Karyotype

  • 2n = 32 (USA) (Taber et al., 1988).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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