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Sticker of Morris' big-headed ant
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Morris' big-headed ant

Pheidole morrisii
Eats: A bit of everythingAntsGardens and meadows6 legs

Morris' big-headed ant is a small North American ant. Big-headed ants have two kinds of workers: small ones and bigger soldiers with huge heads. The soldiers use their big heads and strong jaws to help guard the nest.

Lives in
North America
Top speed
about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
Like other big-headed ants, it eats small insects and also collects seeds and other food.
For real!Photo of Morris' big-headed ant
Picture by April Nobile. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

In big-headed ant colonies, the soldiers have heads that are much bigger than those of the other workers.

2

Scientists split it into two subspecies, slightly different groups of the same ant.

3

It was first described in 1886 by the Swiss ant expert Auguste Forel.

you asked

Most asked questions about Morris' big-headed ant

?Why is it called a big-headed ant?

Because its soldiers have very big heads compared with the other workers.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Pheidole morrisii
Named by
Forel, 1886
Group
Ants
Family
Formicidae
Classification
Insecta > Hymenoptera > Formicidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Pheidole morrisii (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by April Nobile. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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