AntWiki page for Pogonomyrmex californicus
A classic, very cute, i love their perfectly square heads. Cool, calm, collected, no matter how close i got i've never been stung by these gals!
And their sting packs a wallop! Astonished to learn these specific ants were chosen for the very first childrens ant farms, poor kids and poor ants.
^ in this photo you can just make out their psammophore, a basket of long hairs under their heads, which they are named after!
Their genus name means "bearded ant". They use these hairs to help them hold on to clumps of sand when excavating their nest!