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Meet the Big Headed Ant
The first time I met my husband Gregory’s family, I was convinced
he was adopted. He and his brother, Henry, look nothing alike.
Where Gregory’s lean body stretches to more than 6 feet tall,
Henry has the shorter, sturdier build of his parents. A thick mop of
almost black hair flops over Gregory’s brow; Henry’s crown is
lightly dusted with strawberry brown like their father. Their teeth
are different; their voices don’t sound alike; even their fingers and
toes are different. I tried to get his parents to confess Gregory’s
adoption, but they assured me he is their son. On holidays, I tried
to trip up his aunt and cousins over the conditions of Gregory’s
birth, but everybody maintained that he is 100 percent, for sure
not adopted. Over time and after much superspy-like
investigation on my part, I finally gave up and conceded that
Gregory and Henry probably have the same parents. They just
don’t favor each other. Likewise, it took a similar amount of
convincing for me to believe that majors and minors, the two
types of workers in big headed ant nests, were not only related
but sometimes almost genetically identical.
Urban Life
Where it lives: Big headed ants inhabit grassy,
open areas and forests all across the United
States. Sometimes they move into people’s
homes.
What it eats: Anything from sugary foods like
aphid honeydew to dead animals, human
garbage, and seeds.
NYC notes: Here and there you find this ant in
New York. About it, we know very little else.
Big headed ants move about grassy knolls, sandy parks, and
forested areas all across the United States, along the east and
west coast and all states in between. Several species are
common in the United States: Pheidole bicarinata, Pheidole
dentata, and Pheidole tysoni (the species found in New York City).
They usually nest in dugouts of exposed soil or under rocks or
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