Pheidole gertrudae

Pheidole gertrudae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species group:	gertrudae
Species:	P. gertrudae
Binomial name
Pheidole gertrudae Forel, 1886 Specimen labels
Synonyms
Megalomyrmex humilis Borgmeier, 1930 Pheidole gertrudae leonhardi Forel, 1901 Pheidole gertrudae loretensis Santschi, 1933

Nothing is known about the biology of gertrudae.

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Pheidole gertrudae group
• Key to Pheidole pilifera group

Distribution

Widespread in Brazil, from Amazonas to Santa Catarina; also recorded from Tipuani, La Paz, Amazonian Bolivia (var. leonhardi types); Canindeyli Department, Paraguay; and Loreto, Misiones, northern Argentina (var. loretensis types). (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 25.68015° to -27.331°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (type locality), Colombia, Paraguay.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Castes

Worker

Minor

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0178029. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ALWC, Alex L. Wild Collection.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• gertrudae. Pheidole gertrudae Forel, 1886b: xlii (w.) BRAZIL. Mayr, 1887: 592 (s.). Senior synonym of humilis: Kempf, 1960f: 463; of leonhardi, loretensis: Wilson, 2003: 537.
• leonhardi. Pheidole gertrudae var. leonhardi Forel, 1901h: 62 (s.w.) BOLIVIA. Junior synonym of gertrudae: Wilson, 2003: 537.
• humilis. Megalomyrmex (Wheelerimyrmex) humilis Borgmeier, 1930: 35, pl. 5, figs. 34, 36 (w.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of gertrudae: Kempf, 1960f: 463.
• loretensis. Pheidole (Pheidole) gertrudae var. loretensis Santschi, 1933e: 108 (w.) ARGENTINA. Junior synonym of gertrudae: Wilson, 2003: 537.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

From Wilson (2003): DIAGNOSIS With the distinctive qualities of the gertrudae group: propodeal spines greatly reduced to absent in major, absent in minor; propodeal spiracle extremely large; entire body mostly smooth and shiny. Differs from other members of group (Pheidole capillata, Pheidole jeannei, q.v.) in the major in the following combination of traits: no rugoreticulum on head, humerus subangulate in dorsal-oblique view; no trace of a propodeal spine, with the basal and declivitous faces of the propodeum in side view meeting in a very wide oblique angle.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Lectotype major: HW 1.30, HL 1.34, SL 0.76, EL 0.26, PW 0.62. Para lectotype type minor: HW 0.64, HL 0.66, SL 0.72, EL 0.14, PW 0.40.

COLOR Major: concolorous light reddish yellow.

Minor: concolorous light brownish yellow.

Figure. Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Type Material

BRAZIL: Guanabara, Rio de Janeiro. Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

Named in honor of Gertrude Naegeli. (Wilson 2003)

References

• Albrecht, M., Gotelli, N.J. 2001. Spatial and temporal niche partitioning in grassland ants. Oecologia 126, 134–141 (doi:10.1007/s004420000494).
• Albuquerque, E., Prado, L., Andrade-Silva, J., Siqueira, E., Sampaio, K., Alves, D., Brandão, C., Andrade, P., Feitosa, R., Koch, E., Delabie, J., Fernandes, I., Baccaro, F., Souza, J., Almeida, R., Silva, R. 2021. Ants of the State of Pará, Brazil: a historical and comprehensive dataset of a key biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon Basin. Zootaxa 5001, 1–83 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5001.1.1).
• Casadei-Ferreira, A., Economo, E.P., Feitosa, R.M. 2020. Additions to the taxonomy of Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the southern grasslands of Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 64(4):e20200068 (doi:10.1590/1806-9665-RBENT-2020-0068).
• Forel, A. 1886b. Espèces nouvelles de fourmis américaines. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 30:xxxviii-xlix. (page xlii, worker described)
• Garcia, F.R.M., Ovruski, S.M., Suárez, L., Cancino, J., Liburd, O.E. 2020. Biological control of tephritid fruit flies in the Americas and Hawaii: A review of the use of parasitoids and predators. Insects 11, 662. (doi:10.3390/insects11100662).
• Glaser, S.M., Feitosa, R.M., Koch, A., Goß, N., do Nascimento, F.S., Grüter, C. 2021. Tandem communication improves ant foraging success in a highly competitive tropical habitat. Insectes Sociaux. (doi:10.1007/s00040-021-00810-y).
• Guerrero, R.J., Fernandez, F., Escarraga, M.E., Perez-Pedraza, L.F., Serna, F., Mackay, M.P., Sandoval, V., Vergara, V., Suarez, D., Garcia, E.I., Sanchez, A., Meneses, A.D., Tocora, M.C., Sosa-Calvo, J. 2018. New records of myrmicine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for Colombia. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 44: 238-259 (DOI 10.25100/socolen.v44i2.7115).
• Kempf, W. W. 1960f. Miscellaneous studies on Neotropical ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Stud. Entomol. (n.s.) 3: 417-466 (page 463, senior synonym of humilis)
• Ladino, N., Feitosa, R.M. 2022. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Parque Estadual São Camilo, an isolated Atlantic Forest remnant in western Paraná, Brazil. ZOOLOGIA 39: e22001 (doi:10.1590/S1984-4689.v39.e22001).
• Mayr, G. 1887. Südamerikanische Formiciden. Verh. K-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 37: 511-632 (page 592, soldier described)
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• Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, [ix] + 794 pp.: 794pp (page 537, fig. major, minor described, Senior synonym of leonhardi, loretensis)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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• Cuezzo, F. 1998. Formicidae. Chapter 42 in Morrone J.J., and S. Coscaron (dirs) Biodiversidad de artropodos argentinos: una perspectiva biotaxonomica Ediciones Sur, La Plata. Pages 452-462.
• Dias N. D. S., R. Zanetti, M. S. Santos, M. F. Gomes, V. Peñaflor, S. M. F. Broglio, and J. H. C. Delabie. 2012. The impact of coffee and pasture agriculture on predatory and omnivorous leaf-litter ants. Journal of Insect Science 13:29. Available online: http://www.insectscience.org/13.29
• Dias N. S., R. Zanetti, M. S. Santos, J. Louzada, and J. H. C. Delabie. 2008. Interaction between forest fragments and adjacent coffee and pasture agroecosystems: responses of the ant communities (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Iheringia, Sér. Zool., Porto Alegre, 98(1): 136-142.
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• Forel A. 1908. Ameisen aus Sao Paulo (Brasilien), Paraguay etc. gesammelt von Prof. Herm. v. Ihering, Dr. Lutz, Dr. Fiebrig, etc. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 58: 340-418.
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