1966] 
Creighton — Pheidole 
succession. Their contents were then gradually eaten away by the 
minors. The majors take little interest in the seeds after they have 
opened them. 
The behavior of ridicula runs counter to the “classic” view of the 
habits of Pheidole in several important respects. This view states 
that most species of Pheidole gather large quantities of grass seeds 
during a harvest period in late summer or early fall. These seeds 
are carried to the nest, stripped, and stored in seed chambers. The 
discarded hulls are built into a chaff pile. As a result of this the 
colony is provided with an abundant store of seeds which carries it 
over the time when no seeds are available. The account is usually 
rounded off with the statement that the stored seeds are opened by 
the major, whose large head and powerful jaws adapt it for seed 
crushing. There is nothing illogical in the above view. The only 
trouble is that, as the habits of the genus Pheidole become better 
known, it seems to fit fewer and fewer species. 
Let us look for a moment at the matter of the use of stored seeds 
during periods when none are available. It is possible that a few 
species of Pheidole whose ranges extend into the northeastern United 
States (Ph. hicarinata, davisi, morrisi and pilifera) may behave in 
this fashion, for climatic conditions there often prohibit foraging 
over a period of five or six months. But this is assuredly not true of 
the bulk of our species, most of which forage all year long or at least 
for the greater part of the year. In addition, it can often be shown 
that there is no harvest period in the sense that the seeds are garnered 
when they have matured. Many species of Pheidole collect their 
seeds from surface litter and this litter furnishes a supply of seeds 
that may be worked for months after the seeds have ripened. The 
“harvest” may thus proceed throughout the entire winter and into 
the spring. Ph. macclendoni, militicida and ridicula all behave in 
this way. It seems plain enough that these species are not storing 
seeds against a period when seeds are not available, for there is either 
no such period or, if one exists, it is too brief to be of any significance. 
There is the even more disturbing fact that many species of 
Pheidole do not confine themselves to a diet of seeds. No other North 
American species of Pheidole gathers greater quantities of seeds than 
does Ph. (M.) rhea. A large nest of this species may have several 
bushels of chaff around the nest entrances. But, when the foraging 
columns of rhea are observed it may be seen that the foragers often 
bring in seeds and insect remains in equal numbers. Allowing for 
