| Pheidole navigans | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Genus: | Pheidole |
| Species: | P. navigans |
| Binomial name | |
| Pheidole navigans Forel, 1901 | |
Pheidole navigans, also called the navigating big-headed ant or the wandering big-headed ant, is a species of big-headed ant of the Pheidole flavens -complex native to Venezuela and Colombia and invasive in California, Bermuda, Germany, Mexico, the Canary Islands, the southeastern United States, and Hawaii. It is commonly misidentified as Pheidole moerens . [1] [2] They are a small, short-limbed species, with minor workers reaching 2.0 millimetres (0.079 in), major workers 2.4 millimetres (0.094 in), males 2.8 millimetres (0.11 in), and queens 3.5 millimetres (0.14 in) in total body length. [3] [4] In Florida, they are rather common and nest in various microhabitats, including in rotten wood, hollow twigs, nuts, leaf littler, and occasionally arboreally. They are rather generalist and sustain on a wide variety of foods, from small arthropods to human foods. However, they are not reported to be major house pests and were first recorded in Florida in 1975. [5]
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