Pheidole dentata

As a member of the hyperdiverse genus Pheidole, P. dentata possesses the characteristic dimorphic worker caste system with minor workers and major workers (soldiers) bearing disproportionately large heads. Specific diagnostic features distinguishing P. dentata from congeners are not provided in available sources. The species name "dentata" refers to toothed characteristics, likely of the mandibles or clypeus.

Eastern and southeastern United States, extending from the Mid-Atlantic states through the southeastern states to Mexico.

• Commoptera solenopsidis - parasitoidA phorid fly species documented as a parasitoid of P. dentata in Florida.

Workers exhibit age-related polyethism with dynamic task repertoire expansion, where individuals progressively acquire new tasks as they age rather than switching between predefined task sets. Newly eclosed workers can feed and interact socially but require several days for cephalic muscle development to perform tasks requiring mandible use such as nursing, foraging, and defense. The species demonstrates remarkable behavioral robustness to sensory injury: workers with unilateral antennal denervation maintain most task performance capabilities, with deficits restricted primarily to pheromone trail-following. Behavioral development correlates with increased serotonergic and dopaminergic activity in the brain, particularly in regions associated with olfactory and visual processing.

• Pheidole megacephalaBoth are big-headed ants with dimorphic worker castes, but P. megacephala is a globally distributed invasive species with larger body size and more aggressive colony behavior, while P. dentata is native to North America and has been extensively studied for behavioral development rather than invasion ecology.

• model organism
• behavioral development
• neurobiology
• division of labor
• polyethism
• native species

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• GBIF taxonomy match
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• Catalogue of Life
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• A MATHEMATICAL FRAMEWORK EXHIBITING THE EMERGENCE OF DYNAMIC EXPANSION OF TASK REPERTOIRE INPHEIDOLE DENTATA
• Coming of age in an ant colony: cephalic muscle maturation accompanies behavioral development in Pheidole dentata
• Behavioral Performance and Neural Systems Are Robust to Sensory Injury in Workers of the Ant Pheidole dentata
• Aging brains and social behavior in an invertebrate model: neuromodulation and neuroanatomy of task attendance across the worker lifespan of the ant Pheidole dentata
• A New Host Association ofCommoptera solenopsidis(Diptera: Phoridae) with the AntPheidole dentata(Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Behavioral Observations
• Age‐ and subcaste‐related patterns of serotonergic immunoreactivity in the optic lobes of the ant Pheidole dentata
• Age-related repertoire expansion and division of labor in Pheidole dentata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a new perspective on temporal polyethism and behavioral plasticity in ants