1. Location of collection: Llano, California.
2. Date of collection:  3-20-2015.
3. Habitat of collection:  High Desert.
4. Length (from head to gaster):  9 mm.
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture:  Shiny. Black head with dark red mandibles; black thorax; very dark red gaster, lighter between terga.
6. Distinguishing characteristics: Second and third gastral terga bald, except discal hairs between them. Very short spines.
7. Anything else distinctive: Has mating flight in March.
8. Nest description: Founding chamber is a small, typical looking fan of dirt with a hole in the middle.

Edit: Added a new image.

Edited by dspdrew, April 5 2015 - 3:45 PM.

I only found one of these queens last night.

At first I assumed this was P. xerophila, but those normally fly around July. P. xerophila also make founding chambers that look like small mounds of dirt about an inch in diameter, while this had one with the typical fan shaped entrance with a hole in the middle, only smaller than usual. I also noticed right away that this queen is a bit larger (9 mm) than all the P. xerophila queens I have seen (6 or 7 mm). As for the colors, this queen's head is as dark as the rest of its body except its mandibles, while P. xerophila has a lighter red colored head. P. xerophila has hair all over its gaster, while this queen's second and third terga are smooth and bald except for the discal hairs between them. And finally, this queen's spines are shorter; she barely has any spines sticking out at all.

This queen

Pheidole xerophila

Here's another image of this unidentified Pheidole sp.

She looks pretty happy with that large egg pile.

I don't see anything else there could be drew, I'm going to say definite Pheidole xerophila

It's way too different, in all the ways I mentioned.

Pheidole californica?

Doesn't Pheidole californica have much more red? Like a red head and thorax?

I wonder is the queen knows that she missed placed some of her eggs??

Doesn't Pheidole californica have much more red? Like a red head and thorax?

You are right...

I'm wondering if this could be Pheidole barbata. I noticed also there were quite a few records from Llano, CA--exactly where I found this one. I'll have to try out the queen Pheidole key later and see if I can ID her. I think P. psammophila might be a possibility too.

I found more of these this year in mid February, out in the Indio Hills, CA area this time. I also got some microscope pictures too now.

Not the right habitat for P. psammophila. Barbata is a good bet though.

Yeah, I've spent the last hour and a half reading everything I could about both of them. It seems P. psammophila like very sandy habitats. Also, seeing that other Pheidole queens have about the same size spines as their majors, then these probably wouldn't have majors with spines any larger than what these queens have, which is just a slight point.