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western harvester ant

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

Classification

Class
Insecta

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, or the western harvester ant, is a species of ant that inhabits the deserts and arid grasslands of the American West at or below 6,300 feet (1,900 m). Like other harvester ants in the genus Pogonomyrmex, it is so called because of its habit of collecting edible seeds and other food items. The specific epithet "occidentalis", meaning "of the west", refers to the fact that it is characteristic of the interior of the Western United States; its mounds of gravel, surrounded by areas denuded of plant life, are a conspicuous feature of rangeland.

Distribution

(c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ken-ichi Ueda · CC-BY
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Countries in the Picchu catalog
United States of America · 977Canada · 19Mexico · 3