The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Once again I am curious about the local ants, and my ID key hasn't arrived in the mail yet. I took some pictures of one on my shirt.

More pictures:
https://imgur.com/gallery/eYw57S0
She's about 8mm long (judging by my belt loop in image 5 which is exactly 10mm wide) and forages in the dry sandy parts of the Mojave Desert. They also have these adorable tufts of longer hairs around their mandibles that unfortunately I was unable to capture on camera. It's like they have little mustaches. So cute.

I must have rolled over one of her sisters, who proceeded to bite and then sting me, and yes, I saw the stinger and watched her stab me with it. The area around the sting burned like a hot iron for the next hour and is now swollen and itchy.

I'm mostly curious about the genus and hopefully the species. Can anyone help me ID them?
They're easy to find so additional photos shouldn't be a problem.

Got a better side profile shot.

This one also stung me so now my elbow hurts a lot. Apparently when they're angry but their target disappears they just sort of sit there in a blind rage so this one was easy to get photos of. I just wish I had my pro setup out here.

are you sure it is not a fire ant?

I'm not very good with the southwestern species, but this is a Pogonomyrmex worker, a genus known to have a powerful sting.

Pogonomyrmex means "bearded ant". The beard supposedly helps to carry fine sand and seeds.

antnest8 wrote: ↑

Tue May 15, 2018 2:48 pm

are you sure it is not a fire ant?

Nah, not aggressive or abundant enough.

Batspiderfish wrote: ↑

Tue May 15, 2018 3:15 pm

I'm not very good with the southwestern species, but this is a Pogonomyrmex worker, a genus known to have a powerful sting.

Pogonomyrmex means "bearded ant". The beard supposedly helps to carry fine sand and seeds.

Ah, I thought they might be Pogos, but I'm new to the area.