Pheidole furtiva

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Pheidole furtiva
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. furtiva
Binomial name
Pheidole furtiva
Wilson, 2003

Pheidole furtiva casent0102876 profile 1.jpg

Pheidole furtiva casent0102876 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen Label

The type colony was found nesting in soil beneath a pat of dried cow dung in a grassy, grazed meadow with scattered juniper (Stefan Cover). Other colonies were found by Cover beneath a rock in a grassy juniper flat, in a cryptic soil nest on a rocky hillside covered by acacia-opuntia scrub, and under a rock in an overgrazed, grassy creek valley. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Known only from several Arizona collections made by Stefan Cover in the Chiricahua Mts., 1550–1650 m; Pajarito Mts., Santa Cruz Co., 1110 m; and Patagonia Mts., 1420 m. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 31.93202° to 31.351°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (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

Worker

Minor

Images from AntWeb

Pheidole furtiva casent0102877 head 1.jpgPheidole furtiva casent0102877 profile 1.jpgPheidole furtiva casent0102877 dorsal 1.jpgPheidole furtiva casent0102877 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0102877. Photographer Jen Fogarty, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

  • furtiva. Pheidole furtiva Wilson, 2003: 425, figs. (s.w.) U.S.A.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Similar in various traits to Pheidole chalca, Pheidole floridana, Pheidole daphne, Pheidole nebulosa, Pheidole quercicola, Pheidole specularis, Pheidole stomachosa and Pheidole tysoni, but easily distinguished as follows.

Major: dark yellow; head elongate, subrectangular; eyes very small; from above, humeri angulate and overhanging rest of pronotum, and in dorsal-oblique view are bilobate; mesonotal convexity in dorsal-oblique view angulate; propodeal spiracles large; propodeal spines robust, directed backward; angular subpostpetiolar process present in side view; postpetiole from above broad and spinose; small patch of rugoreticulum present behind each antennal fossa.

Minor: head mostly carinulate and foveolate, with a rugoreticulum behind each eye; anterior and lateral margins of pronotal dorsum rugulose and rugoreticulate, and all of mesosoma foveolate.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.90, HL 1.08, SL 0.56, EL 0.06, PW 0.46. Paratype minor: HW 0.54, HL 0.60, SL 0.52, EL 0.04, PW 0.32.

COLOR Major: body dark yellow, appendages medium yellow.

Minor: concolorous medium yellow.


Pheidole furtiva Wilson 2003.jpg

Figure. Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Type Material

ARIZONA: 6.9 km west-northwest of junction FSR42 and FSR42B, Cochise Co., 1650 m, col. Stefan Cover. Museum of Comparative Zoology

Etymology

L furtiva, hidden, concealed, alluding to the nest site.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics