CreatureData

Bigheaded ant

Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793)

Status not recordedbees wasps and ants

The bigheaded ant (Pheidole megacephala) is a species in the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera.

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Quick facts about the bigheaded ant

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the bigheaded ant live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the bigheaded ant as introduced in 57 countries, and flagged as invasive in 28 of them.

  1. Anguillainvasive
  2. Australiainvasive
  3. Bahamasinvasive
  4. Bermudainvasive
  5. Brazilinvasive
  6. Chinainvasive
  7. Colombiainvasive
  8. Cook Islandsinvasive
  9. Cubainvasive
  10. Dominican Republicinvasive
  11. Ecuadorinvasive
  12. Egyptinvasive
  13. Ethiopiainvasive
  14. Fijiinvasive
  15. Franceinvasive
  16. French Guianainvasive
  17. Haitiinvasive
  18. Kenyainvasive
  19. Marshall Islandsinvasive
  20. Mauritiusinvasive
  21. New Caledoniainvasive
  22. Niueinvasive
  23. Papua New Guineainvasive
  24. Samoainvasive
Show 33 more countries
  1. Seychellesinvasive
  2. St. Vincent & Grenadinesinvasive
  3. Tongainvasive
  4. United Kingdominvasive
  5. Antigua & Barbuda
  6. Barbados
  7. Central African Republic
  8. Indonesia
  9. Jamaica
  10. Japan
  11. Kiribati
  12. Montserrat
  13. Morocco
  14. Myanmar (Burma)
  15. New Zealand
  16. Palau
  17. Philippines
  18. Solomon Islands
  19. South Africa
  20. Spain
  21. Sri Lanka
  22. St. Helena
  23. St. Kitts & Nevis
  24. St. Lucia
  25. St. Martin
  26. Tokelau
  27. Trinidad & Tobago
  28. Turks & Caicos Islands
  29. Tuvalu
  30. United States
  31. Vanuatu
  32. Vietnam
  33. Wallis & Futuna

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the bigheaded ant endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the bigheaded ant classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderHymenoptera
  5. familyFormicidae
  6. genusPheidole
  7. SpeciesPheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793)

Synonyms Atta testacea, Formica edax, Formica megacephala, Myrmica agilis, Myrmica laevigata, Myrmica suspiciosa, Myrmica trinodis, Oecophthora perniciosa, Oecophthora pusilla, Pheidole agilis, Pheidole edax, Pheidole janus, Pheidole laevigata, Pheidole perniciosa, Pheidole pusilla, Pheidole suspiciosa, Pheidole testacea, Pheidole trinodis

Other names and names in other languages (9)
  • African big-headed antEnglish
  • Coastal brown antEnglish
  • Hormiga africana cabezonaSpanish
  • Fourmi à grosse têteFrench
  • ツヤオオズアリJapanese
  • Glimmende dikkopDutch
  • Африканский большеголовый муравейRussian
  • 熱帶大頭家蟻Chinese
  • 廣大頭蟻Chinese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the bigheaded ant

Other species in the same genus Pheidole.

Ant

Pheidole oculata

FormicidaeNo free photo yet

Ant

Pheidole elecebra

FormicidaeNo free photo yet

CompareBigheaded ant vs Pallid big-headed antBigheaded ant vs AntBigheaded ant vs AntBigheaded ant vs Morris' big-headed ant

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the bigheaded ant an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the bigheaded ant as invasive in 28 countries, including Anguilla, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda and Brazil. It lists it as introduced in 57 in all.

What kind of animal is the bigheaded ant?

The bigheaded ant (Pheidole megacephala) belongs to the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Bigheaded ant (Pheidole megacephala). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bigheaded-ant

MLA

“Bigheaded ant (Pheidole megacephala).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bigheaded-ant.

BibTeX
@misc{bigheaded_ant_2026,
  title = {Bigheaded ant (Pheidole megacephala)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bigheaded-ant},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}