Minor workers are only a few millimetres long; majors have disproportionately large heads.
Fine-art photographic collection
Pheidole megacephala
A globally invasive ant overwhelming native communities through sheer recruitment.
About this species
African big-headed ant
Pheidole megacephala(Fabricius, 1793)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Pheidole megacephala is one of the world’s most widespread invasive ants. Colonies contain small workers and large-headed soldiers, recruit rapidly to food and can form vast interconnected populations in disturbed tropical environments.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Myrmicinae · Attini · Pheidole
Source checked · checked 2026-07-15
Global tropics and subtropicsBroad documented localities — not a complete range map.
Probably African in origin and now established through much of the tropical and subtropical world.
Urban areas, plantations, gardens, coasts, forest edge and disturbed tropical habitats.
Strong trail recruitment allows rapid domination of food and nesting space.
Broadly omnivorous: honeydew, carrion, living arthropods, seeds and human food.
Multi-queen, multi-nest colonies can form extensive supercolonies.
What makes this species remarkable?
Majors process resistant food and defend while minors perform most routine work.
Introduced populations can displace native ants and disrupt other invertebrates.
Human transport has carried the species to islands and continents far beyond its native range.