Pheidole littoralis

Pheidole littoralis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species:	P. littoralis
Binomial name
	Pheidole littoralis; Cole, 1952 Specimen Label

Naves (1985) and Stefan Cover (unpublished) found littoralis very common nesting in white-sand scrub at the Archbold Field Station near Lake Placid, Florida, and close to colonies of Pheidole adrianoi and Pheidole metallescens. The excavations are relatively very deep, beneath crescentic crater mounds, and the colonies small. A granary chamber filled with seeds is always found 10 to 20 cm beneath the surface. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Apparently limited to central Florida. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 32.53527778° to 26.03°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (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.

Biology

Atchison & Lucky (2022) found that this species does not remove seeds.

Castes

Worker

Minor

Images from AntWeb


Worker. Specimen code casent0104405. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.

Major

Images from AntWeb


Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code casent0104404. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.

Queen


.

Nomenclature

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

littoralis. Pheidole sitarches subsp. littoralis Cole, 1952b: 443 (s.w.) U.S.A. Raised to species: Naves, 1985: 64. See also: Wilson, 2003: 581.

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): DIAGNOSIS L littoralis, of the shore, referring to the habitat at the type locality.

A member of the “pilifera complex” of the larger pilifera group, comprising Pheidole calens, Pheidole californica, Pheidole carrolli, Pheidole cavigenis, Pheidole clementensis, Pheidole creightoni, Pheidole hoplitica, Pheidole littoralis, Pheidole micula, Pheidole pilifera, Pheidole polymorpha, Pheidole rugulosa, Pheidole senex, Pheidole soritis, Pheidole tepicana and Pheidole torosa, which complex is characterized by the following traits. Major: dorsal head surface extensively sculptured; occipital lobes horizontally rugulose (or, in carrolli smooth, in littoralis foveate, and in micula and soritis carinulate; postpetiole from above diamond-shaped, trapezoidal, or spinose. Minor: eye medium-sized to large.

P. littoralis is easily distinguished within the complex by the following combination of traits.

Major: occiput not rugulose, but covered with conspicuous foveae; anterior and lateral margins of pronotum rugoreticulate; mesonotum longitudinally carinulate; triangular subpostpetiolar process present; postpetiole from above diamond-shaped.

Minor: most of head, mesosoma, and waist foveolate and opaque.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Paratype major: HW 1.40, HL 1.52, SL 0.56, EL 0.20, PW 0.58. Paratype minor: HW 0.58, HL 0.50, SL 0.42, EL 0.12, PW 0.28.

COLOR Major: gaster plain medium to dark brown; remainder of body, and appendages, reddish brown.

Minor: most of body light brown, with dark brown gaster and brownish yellow appendages.

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

Type Material

FLORIDA: Lido Beach, Sarasota. American Museum of Natural History, National Museum of Natural History and Museum of Comparative Zoology - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

L littoralis, of the shore, referring to the habitat at the type locality. (Wilson 2003)

References

Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 581, fig. major, minor described)
Atchison, R. A., Lucky, A. 2022. Diversity and resilience of seed-removing ant species in Longleaf Sandhill to frequent fire. Diversity 14, 1012 (doi:10.3390/d14121012).
Cole, A. C., Jr. 1952b. A new Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Florida. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 45: 443-444. (page 443, soldier, worker described)
Ipser, R.M., Brinkman, M.A., Gardner, W.A., Peeler, H.B. 2004. A survey of ground-dwelling ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Georgia. Florida Entomologist 87: 253-260.
MacGown, J.A., Booher, D., Richter, H., Wetterer, J.K., Hill, J.G. 2021. An updated list of ants of Alabama (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with new state records. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 147: 961-981 (doi:10.3157/061.147.0409).
Naves, M. A. 1985. A monograph of the genus Pheidole in Florida, USA (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insecta Mundi 1: 53–90. (page 64, raised to species)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Annotated Ant Species List Ordway-Swisher Biological Station. Downloaded at http://ordway-swisher.ufl.edu/species/os-hymenoptera.htm on 5th Oct 2010.
Cole A. C., Jr. 1952. A new Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Florida. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 45: 443-444.
Deyrup M., C. Johnson, G. C. Wheeler, J. Wheeler. 1989. A preliminary list of the ants of Florida. Florida Entomologist 72: 91-101
Deyrup, M. 2003. An updated list of Florida ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist 86(1):43-48.
Deyrup, M. and J. Trager. 1986. Ants of the Archbold Biological Station, Highlands County, Florida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist 69(1):206-228
Ipser R. M. 2004. Native and exotic ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Georgia: Ecological Relationships with implications for development of biologically-based management strategies. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, University of Georgia. 165 pages.
Naves M. A. 1985. A monograph of the genus Pheidole in Florida, USA (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insecta Mundi 1: 53-90
Wilson, E.O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Genus. Harvard University Press