Pheidole ajax
Pheidole ajax | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Formicidae |
Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
Tribe: | Attini |
Genus: | Pheidole |
Species: | P. ajax |
Binomial name | |
Pheidole ajax Forel, 1899 |
A nest was found by Longino (1997). beneath the bark of a rotten stump in mature wet forest.
Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Atlantic slope to 600 m (Longino 1997).
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 17.831944° to 10.33333°.
North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Colombia, Costa Rica (type locality), Nicaragua.
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. |
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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
Worker
Minor
Images from AntWeb
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Worker. Specimen code casent0178235. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
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Worker. Specimen code inbiocri001280418. Photographer J. Russ, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by JTLC. |
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Holotype of Pheidole ajax. Worker. Specimen code jtlc000014065. Photographer John T. Longino, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by MHNG. |
Major
Images from AntWeb
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Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code casent0178234. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
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Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code inbiocri001280413. Photographer J. Russ, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by JTLC. |
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- ajax. Pheidole ajax Forel, 1899c: 71 (s.w.) COSTA RICA. See also: Wilson, 2003: 263.
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 brown member of the fallax group immediately recognizable in the major by the extremely long propodeal spines; by the completely carinulate center of the head and frontal lobes, which is flanked by a rugoreticulum on either side in full-face view; and by the striate first gastral tergite.
Minor: extremely long propodeal spines and mostly smooth and shiny head and body.
Similar to Pheidole fiorii, Pheidole hector, Pheidole jaculifera and Pheidole lourothi, differing in many details of body form, sculpturing, and pilosity, as depicted.
MEASUREMENTS (mm) Major (Rio Toro Amarillo, Costa Rica): HW 1.28, HL 1.36, SL 1.16, EL 0.22, PW 0.66.
Minor (Rio Toro Amarillo, Costa Rica): HW 0.56, HL 0.82, SL 1.12, EL 0.14, PW 0.40.
COLOR Major: body dark brown, appendages medium brown.
Minor: body and most appendages medium to light brown, except for yellowish brown tarsi.
Figure. Upper: major. Lower: minor. COSTA RICA: Rio Toro Amarillo, near Guapiles, col. William L. Brown. Minor compared with syntype in Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, Genève, by W. O. Brown. Scale bars = 1 mm.
Type Material
San José, Costa Rica. Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève - as reported in Wilson (2003)
Etymology
Gr Ajax, legendary Greek hero of the Trojan war. (Wilson 2003)
References
- Forel, A. 1899e. Formicidae. [part]. Biol. Cent.-Am. Hym. 3: 57-80 (page 71, soldier, worker described)
- Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 263, fig. major, minor described)
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
- Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Nicargua. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-nicaragua
- Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/