Pheidole tolteca

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Pheidole tolteca
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. tolteca
Binomial name
Pheidole tolteca
Forel, 1901

MCZ-ENT00020682 Pheidole tolteca hal.jpg

MCZ-ENT00020682 Pheidole tolteca had.jpg

Type Specimen Label

The Cuautla workers were in a house, and those collected in San Jose Purua, Michoacán, were collected in tropical scrub. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Recorded from Cuernavaca, Morelos (type locality); Cuautla, Morelos; San Jose Purua, Michoacán, col. Robert J. Hamton; and 95 km north of Acapulco, Guerrero. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 19.72627222° to 18.556547°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Mexico (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.

  • tolteca. Pheidole tolteca Forel, 1901c: 133 (w.) MEXICO. See also: Wilson, 2003: 357.

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): A large, completely foveolate and opaque member of the fallax group, somewhat similar to Pheidole aequiseta and Pheidole gouldi.

Major: antennal scape just attains occipital corner; pilosity of head and mesosoma short, erect to suberect, and mostly of same length; propodeal spines long and relatively thin; rugoreticulum forms a band from eye to eye, anterior to near anterior border of head, and onto frontal lobes; center of pronotal dorsum with broken, scattered rugulae; humerus prominent, subangular; postpetiole from above elliptical.

Minor: body completely foveolate; propodeal spines one-third as long as the basal propodeal face anterior to them, and thin; occiput narrow and with nuchal collar.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Major (Michoacán, Mexico): HW 1.72, HL 1.82, SL 1.44, EL 0.30, PW 0.88. Syntype minor: HW 0.86, HL 1.06, SL 1.40, EL 0.22, PW 0.62.

COLOR Major: head and appendages light reddish brown, rest of body medium reddish brown.

Minor: concolorous medium dull brown except for anterior rim of head capsule and mandibles, which are yellowish brown.


Pheidole tolteca Wilson 2003.jpg

Figure. Upper: major, with minor compared with syntype minor (San Jose Purua, Michoacán, Mexico, col. R. J. Hamton). Lower: syntype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Syntype Specimen Labels

Type Material

Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, col. W. M. Wheeler. Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève and Museum of Comparative Zoology - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

Named after the Toltec, Amerindian ruling people of central Mexico from 10th to 12th century A.D. (Wilson 2003)

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
  • Fernandes, P.R. XXXX. Los hormigas del suelo en Mexico: Diversidad, distribucion e importancia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
  • Wilson, E.O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Genus. Harvard University Press