Myrmecocystus mexicanus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Myrmecocystus mexicanus, the Mexican honeypot ant, is a species of ant in the genus Myrmecocystus, which is one of the six genera that bear the common name "honey ant" or "honeypot ant", due to curious behavior where some of the workers will swell with liquid food until they become immobile and hang from the ceilings of nest chambers, acting as living food storage for the colony. Honey ants are found in North America, Australia, and Africa. Ant species belonging to the genus Myrmecocystus reside in North America. M. mexicanus in particular is found in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico.
Workers range from 3–7 mm in length and have a light tan thorax, legs and slightly darker head with black mandibles. The gaster is brownish-gray. Queens are roughly 9 mm in length. The head and mandibles are a reddish brown. The thorax is yellowish brown, and the gaster is a lighter shade of yellow. The legs are a dull yellow. Males are typically about 6 mm long and have a small black head and black thorax, except a reddish-brown pronotum. The gaster is a dark brown, and the legs are gray. Males are winged.
M. mexicanus like many ants, wasps and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Honeypot Ant sighting in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 164th most-seen of the 190 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February, April and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Honeypot Ant in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, May–September and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mexican Honeypot Ant sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Joshua Tree National Park, in our data
Joshua Tree National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Mexican Honeypot Ant sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Formicidae
The closest relatives of the Mexican Honeypot Ant that you can see in Joshua Tree National Park (family Formicidae, Ants) are Messor pergandei (about 30%), California Harvester Ant (about 30%) and Rough Harvester Ant (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mexican Honeypot Ant is recorded against all the insects logged in Joshua Tree National Park (5 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.
