Bicolored Pyramid Ant
Dorymyrmex bicolor
Photographed in Creosote/Bursage desert, west side Estrella Mountain Wilderness, Maricopa Co., Arizona, USA. 19 April 2009.
Formicidae -- Ant Family
Pyramid ants need a source of sugars to survive. Natural sources for sugars in the Sonoran Desert environment include extrafloral nectaries on plants and homopteran insects which feed on plants. The growing tips of Fishhook Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizenii) have orange-colored glands that produce sugar-containing nectar. By drawing pyramid ants to its growing point the cactus is partially protected from herbivores that might chew into the tender new growth. Pyramid Ants belong to the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae most of which can spray out a noxious smelling gas thus repelling most animals.
The nests of pyramid ants are constructed in loose soil or sand and a prominent pyramid of excavated sand surrounds the nest hole. Attackers that disturb the nest will get a face full of the dolichoderine smell and usually retreat.
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This Dorymermex nest is position on a sandy terrace adjacent to a desert wash in the Estrella Mountain Wilderness.