Pheidole cavifrons

Pheidole cavifrons
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species group:	aberrans
Species:	P. cavifrons
Binomial name
Pheidole cavifrons Emery, 1906 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Pheidole arciruga Forel, 1908 Pheidole cavifrons fuscipunctis Santschi, 1916

The type colony of synonymous arciruga was collected from a termite mound in Rio Grande do Sul. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Pheidole aberrans group

Distribution

Recorded from Buenos Aires, Argentina; Uruguay; and Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná, Brazil. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -27.383° to -34.833°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay (type locality).

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

Paralectotype of Pheidole cavifrons. Worker. Specimen code casent0904312. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Syntype of Pheidole arciruga. Worker. Specimen code casent0904315. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Syntype of Pheidole arciruga. Worker. Specimen code casent0908303. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

• cavifrons. Pheidole cavifrons Emery, 1906c: 144, fig. 21 (s.w.) URUGUAY. Combination in P. (Elasmopheidole): Emery, 1915i: 190. Senior synonym of fuscipunctis: Gallardo, 1932c: 182; of arciruga: Wilson, 2003: 132.
• arciruga. Pheidole arciruga Forel, 1908c: 381 (w.) BRAZIL. Combination in P. (Elasmopheidole): Bruch, 1914: 219. Junior synonym of cavifrons: Wilson, 2003: 132.
• fuscipunctis. Pheidole (Elasmopheidole) cavifrons var. fuscipunctis Santschi, 1916e: 374, fig. (s.w.q.) ARGENTINA. Junior synonym of cavifrons: Gallardo, 1932c: 182.

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): Closest to Pheidole longior, somewhat less similar to Pheidole aberrans and Pheidole obnixa, distinguished as follows.

Major: head markedly elongate (Head Length/Head Width 1.39); concolorous yellow; hypostoma toothless; dorsal posterior half of head flat; frontal lobes in full-face view with lobose anterior margins; carinulae originating on frontal lobes end far short of midpoint between eyes and occiput; mesonotal convexity in side view reduced; propodeal spines strongly developed; promesonotum smooth and shiny.

Minor: pronotal dorsum covered by semicircular carinulae.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Lectotype major: HW 0.76, HL 1.06, SL 0.34, EL 0.06, PW 0.54. Minor: HW 0.46, HL 0.52, SL 0.34, EL 0.04, PW 0.32.

COLOR Major: concolorous medium yellow. Minor: concolorous pale yellow.

Figure. Upper: lectotype, major (La Sierra, Uruguay). Lower: minor (arcirug syntype, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, compared with cavifrons paralectotype). Scale bars = 1 mm.

Lectotype Specimen Labels

Type Material

La Sierra, Uruguay. Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

L cavifrons, hollow front, evidently referring to the deep antennal scrobes. (Wilson 2003)

References

• Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 132, fig. major, minor described;Senior synonym of arciruga)
• 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).
• Dröse, W., Podgaiski, L.R., Gossner, M.M., Meyer, S.T., Hermann, J.-M., Leidinger, J., Koch, C., Kollmann, J., Weisser, W.W., de S. Mendonça, M., Overbeck, G.E. 2021. Passive restoration of subtropical grasslands leads to incomplete recovery of ant communities in early successional stages. Biological Conservation 264, 109387 (doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109387).
• Emery, C. 1906c [1905]. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XXVI. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 37: 107-194 (page 144, fig. 21 soldier, worker described)
• Emery, C. 1915g. Noms de sous-genres et de genres proposés pour la sous-famille des Myrmicinae. Modifications à la classification de ce groupe (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 1915: 189-192 (page 190, Combination in P. (Elasmopheidole))
• Forel, A. 1908h. Ameisen aus São Paulo (Brasilien), Paraguay etc. gesammelt von Prof. Herm. v. Ihering, Dr. Lutz, Dr. Fiebrig, etc. Verh. K-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 58: 340–418.
• Gallardo, A. 1932d. El subgénero Elasmopheidole en la República Argentina (Himenopteros Formicidos). Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat. 36: 178-182 (page 182, senior synonym of fuscipunctis)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
• Gallardo A. 1915. Observaciones sobre algunas hormigas de la República Argentina. Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Buenos Aires 27: 1-35.
• Kempf W. W. 1978. A preliminary zoogeographical analysis of a regional ant fauna in Latin America. 114. Studia Entomologica 20: 43-62.
• Kusnezov N. 1952. El género Pheidole en la Argentina (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Acta Zoologica Lilloana 12: 5-88.
• Osorio Rosado J. L, M. G. de Goncalves, W. Drose, E. J. Ely e Silva, R. F. Kruger, and A. Enimar Loeck. 2013. Effect of climatic variables and vine crops on the epigeic ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Campanha region, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. J Insect Conserv 17: 1113-1123.
• Rosado J. L. O., M. G. de Gonçalves, W. Dröse, E. J. E. e Silva, R. F. Krüger, R. M. Feitosa, and A. E. Loeck. 2012. Epigeic ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in vineyards and grassland areas in the Campanha region, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Check List, Journal of species lists and distribution 8(6): 1184-1189.
• Zolessi L. C. de, Y. P. Abenante, and M. E. de Philippi. 1988. Lista sistematica de las especies de Formicidos del Uruguay. Comun. Zool. Mus. Hist. Nat. Montev. 11: 1-9.
• Zolessi L. C. de; Y. P. de Abenante, and M. E. Philippi. 1989. Catálogo sistemático de las especies de Formícidos del Uruguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Montevideo: ORCYT Unesco, 40 + ix pp.
• de Zolessi, L.C., Y.P. de Abenante and M.E. Philippi. 1987. Lista sistemática de las especies de formícidos del Uruguay. Comunicaciones Zoologicas del Museo de Historia Natural de Montevideo 11(165):1-9