Pheidole speculifera ascara

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Pheidole speculifera ascara
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. speculifera
Subspecies: P. speculifera ascara
Trinomial name
Pheidole speculifera ascara
Emery, 1901

Taylor et al. (2018) observed this taxon in a Mangifera indica (mango) orchard in Benin, as prey of Oecophylla longinoda.

Identification

A member of the speculifera species group.

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Benin, Eritrea, Ethiopia (type locality), Kenya.

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.

  • ascara. Pheidole speculifera var. ascarus Emery, 1901e: 62 (s.) ETHIOPIA. Santschi, 1930c: 268 (w.m.).

Taxonomic Notes

Taylor et al. (2018) note that the type of this taxon is darker red-brown than Pheidole speculifera, has distinctly dark mandibles, a more ovoid head in full face view and a deeper occipital impression. Because of these differences they propose treating this taxon as a full species. However, this has not been accepted by later authors.

Description

References