Pheidole jordanica

Pheidole jordanica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species:	P. jordanica
Binomial name
Pheidole jordanica Saulcy, 1874 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Pheidole megacephala obtusa Stitz, 1917 Pheidole schmitzi Forel, 1911 Pheidole sinaitica laticeps Mayr, 1904

A fairly common species in the Middle East that also occurs in north-eastern Africa (Collingwood and Agosti 1996).

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 32.083611° to 13.6°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia.
Palaearctic Region: Egypt, Israel (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

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0281625. Photographer Shannon Hartman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

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

• jordanica. Pheidole jordanica Saulcy, 1874: 17 (s.w.) ISRAEL. Finzi, 1936: 161 (q.). Subspecies of megacephala: Emery, 1889a: 442. Revived status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 91. Senior synonym of laticeps, schmitzi: Emery, 1915j: 233; of obtusa: Finzi, 1936: 161.
• laticeps. Pheidole sinaitica subsp. laticeps Mayr, 1904b: 6 (s.w.) EGYPT. Junior synonym of jordanica: Emery, 1915j: 233 (name misspelled by Emery as latifrons.)
• schmitzi. Pheidole schmitzi Forel, 1911h: 455 (s.w.q.) ISRAEL. Junior synonym of jordanica: Emery, 1915j: 233.
• obtusa. Pheidole megacephala r. obtusa Stitz, 1917: 340, fig. 8 (s.) EGYPT. Junior synonym of jordanica: Finzi, 1936: 161.

References

• Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Borowiec, L., Salata, S. 2020. Review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Jordan. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, Entomology 29 (online 2): 1-26 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.3733156).
• Collingwood, C. A. and D. Agosti. 1996. Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (part 2). Fauna of Saudi Arabia. 15:300-385.
• Dalla Torre, K. W. von. 1893. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus. Vol. 7. Formicidae (Heterogyna). Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 289 pp. (page 91, revived status as species)
• Emery, C. 1889b. Intorno ad alcune formiche della fauna paleartica. Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. 27[=(2)(7): 439-443 (page 442, subspecies of megacephala)
• Emery, C. 1915i. Les Pheidole du groupe megacephala (Formicidae). Rev. Zool. Afr. (Bruss.) 4: 223-250 (page 233, senior synonym of laticeps and schmitzi)
• Finzi, B. 1936. Risultati scientifici della spedizione di S. A. S. il Principe Alessandro della Torre e Tasso nell'Egitto e peninsola del Sinai. XI. Formiche. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Egypte 20: 155-210 (page 161, queen described)
• Finzi, B. 1936. Risultati scientifici della spedizione di S. A. S. il Principe Alessandro della Torre e Tasso nell'Egitto e peninsola del Sinai. XI. Formiche. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Egypte 20: 155-210 (page 161, senior synonym of obtusa)
• Saulcy, F. de. 1874. Species des paussides, clavigérides, psélaphides & scydménides de l'Europe & des pays circonvoisins. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Dep. Moselle Metz 13: 1-132 (page 17, soldier, worker described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Bernard F. 1953. Les fourmis du Tassili des Ajjer. Pp. 121-250 in: Bernard, F. (ed.) 1953. Mission scientifique au Tassili des Ajjer (1949). Volume I. Recherches zoologiques et médicales. Paris: P. Lechevalier, 302 pp.
• Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Collingwood C. A. 1985. Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 7: 230-302.
• Emery C. 1915. Les Pheidole du groupe megacephala (Formicidae). Revue Zoologique Africaine (Brussels) 4: 223-250.
• Emery, C. "Formiche della Cirenaica raccolte dal Dott. Enrico Festa e dal Prof. Filippo Silvestri." Bollettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 56 (1924): 6-11.
• Finzi, B. "Risultati scientifici della spedizione di S. A. S. il Principe Alessandro della Torre e Tasso nell'Egitto e peninsola del Sinai. XI. Formiche." Bulletin de la Société Entomologique d'Egypte 20 (1936): 155-210.
• Forel A. 1911. Sur le genre Metapone n. g. nouveau groupe des Formicides et sur quelques autres formes nouvelles. Rev. Suisse Zool. 19: 445-459.
• Karavaiev V. 1911. Ameisen aus Aegypten und dem Sudan. Rus. Entomol. Obozr. 11: 1-12.
• Menozzi C. 1929. Formiche del Sinai raccolte dal Dr. F. S. Bodenheimer, con descrizione di una nuova specie di Monomorium del sottogen. Equestrimessor. Pp. 125-128 in: Bodenheimer, F. S., Theodor, O. Ergebnisse der Sinai-Expedition 1927 der Hebräischen Universität, Jerusalem. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schum, 142 pp.
• Menozzi C. 1934. Reperti mirmecofaunistici raccolti dal Prof. L di Caporiacco nelle oasi di Cufra e in altre localita del deserto Libico. Atti della Societa dei Naturalisti e Matematici di Modena (6)13(65): 153-166
• Mohamed, S., S. Zalat, H. Fadl, S.Gadalla and M. Sharaf. 2001. Taxonomy of ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) collected by pitfall traps from Sinai and Delta region, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Natural History 3:40-61
• Santschi, F. "Notes sur les fourmis du Sahara." Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (2) 4 (1932): 516-520.
• Vonshak M., and A. Ionescu-Hirsch. 2009. A checklist of the ants of Israel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Israel Journal of Entomology 39: 33-55.
• Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004