Major Workers
The distinctive major workers have earned the genus Pheidole the nickname of "big headed ants." The major workers of a Pheidole colony, while they may look fierce, are often quite shy and are often the first to flee on any hint of danger. Interestingly, many Pheidole species are the prey of parasitoidal Phorid flies that lay their eggs on the major workers; the fly larvae grow mainly in the head capsules of the victims, eventually decapitating them, and probably would starve in the bodies of minor workers.
In most cases, the major workers are employed within the nest to break up large food items, or outside to carry large items, like seeds; many Pheidole species are ecologically important seed consumers ("harvesters").
| Minor and major workers of P. purpurea | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
Read more about this topic: Pheidole
Famous quotes containing the words major and/or workers:
“Society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less.”
—John Major (b. 1943)
“If the technology cannot shoulder the entire burden of strategic change, it nevertheless can set into motion a series of dynamics that present an important challenge to imperative control and the industrial division of labor. The more blurred the distinction between what workers know and what managers know, the more fragile and pointless any traditional relationships of domination and subordination between them will become.”
—Shoshana Zuboff (b. 1951)