Messor pergandei
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Veromessor pergandei is a species of harvester ant native to the Southwestern United States, especially the deserts of southeastern California. It has also been identified in the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. It was first described by Gustav Mayr, who named it Aphaenogaster pergandei. It can also be referred to as a black harvester ant or desert harvester ant, although these common names have also been applied to other species.
V. pergandei has a head of equal length and width, with very large mandibles. It has short white or yellow hair and a large thorax. Males typically measure about 8.5 mm (0.33 in) and females about 10 mm (0.39 in). However, individual size can vary based on factors such as availability of food and interspecific competition. The species is named after American myrmecologist Theodore Pergande. The genus was for some time synonymized under Messor but has been split out based on a 2015 study.
Like other harvester ants, V. pergandei gathers fruits and seeds for food. The seeds of perennial shrubs such as Larrea tridentata and Ambrosia dumosa are included in its diet. Messor pergandei at AntWeb... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Messor pergandei sighting in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, based on 228 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 190 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Messor pergandei in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May to October, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Messor pergandei sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Messor pergandei sightings, Joshua Tree National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Death Valley National Park (United States, about 40%).
Same family: Formicidae
The closest relatives of the Messor pergandei that you can see in Joshua Tree National Park (family Formicidae, Ants) are California Harvester Ant (about 30%), Rough Harvester Ant (about 20%) and Desert Leaf-Cutter Ant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Messor pergandei is recorded against all the insects logged in Joshua Tree National Park (228 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
