Pheidole meinerti

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Pheidole meinerti
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. meinerti
Binomial name
Pheidole meinerti
Forel, 1905

MCZ-ENT00022806 Pheidole mimula hal.jpg

MCZ-ENT00022806 Pheidole mimula had.jpg

Type Label

Synonyms

At Cuzco Amazonico, near Maldonado, Peru, Stefan Cover and John Tobin found meinerti in mature terra firme forest and forest transitional between terra firme and seasonally flooded forest. The species appears to be adapted to unstable nest sites on the ground. Two of the colonies were between dead leaves in the leaf litter, and one was in a rotten stick on the surface of the litter. Colonies were small, consisting of 100 workers or less, and a single queen. Cover (personal communication) notes that both majors and minors have long legs and antennae, move very rapidly, and are not aggressive when the nests are disturbed. In this respect they resemble Pheidole aripoensis, Pheidole cataractae and Pheidole demeter. Possibly these are traits that represent a guild of opportunistic, frequently emigrating ground nesters. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Known from single records each from Venezuela, Guyana, and Amazonian Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 5.665549° to -12.497473°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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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.
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Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • meinerti. Pheidole meinerti Forel, 1905b: 159 (s.) VENEZUELA. Senior synonym of mimula: Wilson, 2003: 616.
  • mimula. Pheidole mimula Wheeler, W.M. 1916c: 5 (s.) GUYANA. Junior synonym of meinerti: Wilson, 2003: 616.

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 Major: pilosity of mesosomal dorsum sparse, comprising four or so pairs of short erect hairs; entire head, meso soma, waist foveolate and opaque; other sculpturing limited to longitudinal carinulae on anterior half of head; anterior fifth of median strip of first gastric tergite shagreened, and remainder of gaster smooth and shiny.

Minor: pilosity of dorsa of mesosoma and waist sparse, consisting of a small number of short, erect pairs of setae, some of which are clavate; some hairs on rear third of head also clavate; occiput narrow, with thin nuchal collar.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype ofmeinerti major: HW 0.78, HL 0.78, SL 0.56, EL 0.10, PW 0.36. Minor (Cuzco Amaz6nico, near Puerto Maldonado, Peru): HW 0.42, HL 0.48, SL 0.56, EL 0.08, PW 0.26.

COLOR Major and minor: concolorous yellow.


Pheidole meinerti Wilson 2003.jpg

Figure. Upper: major (syntype of synonymous mimula); right hind femur depicted at bottom. Lower: minor (syntype of synonymous mimula). GUYANA: Tukeit. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Type Material

La Moka, Venezuela, col. F. Meinert. Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

Named after the collector F. Meinert.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Lapolla, J. S., and S. P. Cover. "New species of Pheidole (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) from Guyana, with a list of species known from the country." Transactions of the American Entomological Society 131, no. 3-4 (2005): 365-374.
  • Vasconcelos, H.L., J.M.S. Vilhena, W.E. Magnusson and A.L.K.M. Albernaz. 2006. Long-term effects of forest fragmentation on Amazonian ant communities. Journal of Biogeography 33:1348-1356
  • Wheeler W. M. 1916. Ants collected in British Guiana by the expedition of the American Museum of Natural History during 1911. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 35: 1-14.