Southern Cali Worker ID

[BleedingRaindrops]

I was camping out in the Mojave desert and I spotted these girls in the dry rocky soil.
http://imgur.com/a/3gD7iv7

I don't have an accurate way to measure them out here but against the width of my Pinkie (~10cm) I would say the largest majors are 6mm and the smallest majors are 3mm.

The nest entrance is burrowed down rather than built up (like a funnel instead of a mound) which I found odd, but maybe it's to do with the environment.

Can anyone ID them for me?

[antnest8]

looks like formica sp.

[Delphie]

I'm thinking Pheidole sp.

[antnest8]

sorry i agree they look like Pheidole but that major does not have a big head is that only for certain Pheidole species

[averagebilly]

When I look at those photos, I think Harvester ant. I don't know the scientific name, though.

[BleedingRaindrops]

I would say definitely not Pheidole simply because of the color. Pheidole (at least the various species I've seen) tend to have a rough exoskeleton that is bright red or brown in color. These are smooth, shiny, and jet black, and their head shape isn't even close to Pheidole

Harvester ants sounds plausible. I didn't know they came in black but a Google search for black harvester ant returned Messor pergandei which is a species native to the deserts of southern california. They look very similar too.

[Canadiananter]

Definetly Veromessor pergandei