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Pheidole lucida
| Pheidole lucida | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: | Pheidole |
| Species: | P. lucida |
| Binomial name | |
| Pheidole lucida Forel, 1895
| |
Fischer et al. (2020) found 13 unusual species, which they call the Pheidole lucida group (for the first of its two described species, Pheidole lucida, Pheidole oculata being the other), all of which are associated with other Pheidole species in Madagascar. Although the full biology of these species is not yet known, multiple lines of evidence suggest that they are inquilines (residing inside the nest of another species), and likely social parasites. First, they were frequently observed and collected as part of a nest series of other Pheidole species (i.e., the putative hosts). Second, they have a suite of morphological traits that are typically observed in other inquiline species. The minor worker caste has reduced mandibles and loss of cuticular pigmentation, whereas the queens show modifications found in many other inquiline species that are often referred to as part of a ‘‘parasitic syndrome’’ (e.g., rounded head shape, elongated antennae, broadened postpetiole, etc. (Wilson, 1971; Wilson, 1984)). Third, the major worker subcaste, a hallmark of the genus and present in all 1,000+ non-parasitic Pheidole species, is entirely absent in the P. lucida group. In this genus, the partial loss of the worker caste is a strong indication of a socially parasitic lifestyle, where reproductive allocation to the worker caste is often reduced or lost entirely (Buschinger, 2009; Wilson, 1971; Wilson, 1984; Hoelldobler & Wilson, 1990; Maschwitz et al., 2000; Sumner et al., 2003). Only one of the 13 inquiline species (an undescribed species, Pheidole gf010) seems to be entirely workerless, with the queen itself showing a very reduced, worker-like morphology. Sumner et al. (2003) suggested that workers of incipient social parasites (inquilines) may help the parasitic queen suppress host reproduction and redirect host resources toward the production of parasite queens and males. We refer to this group as ‘‘social parasites’’ because of the evidence above but, without direct observation, the strength of this parasitism in the P. lucida group is uncertain and we cannot rule out weak or even no costs to the host (i.e., commensalism). However, the important point for the following study is that if the workers in the P. lucida group are symbiotic with the host colonies, we should expect their phenotypes to be subject to scrutiny by the host workers in everyday social interactions.
Identification
Distribution
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Malagasy Region: Madagascar (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. |
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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
Association with Other Organisms
Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
This species is a inquiline for the ant Pheidole madecassa (a host) in Madagascar (Fischer et al., 2020).
Castes
Worker
Images from AntWeb
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| Syntype of Pheidole lucida. Worker. Specimen code casent0101624. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland. |
Pheidole.png)
X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Pheidole lucida (worker) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.
See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.
Queen
Pheidole X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Pheidole lucida (queen) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.
See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- lucida. Pheidole lucida Forel, 1895c: 248 (w.) MADAGASCAR.
Description
References
- Buschinger, A. (2009). Social parasitism among ants: a review (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecol. News 12, 219–235.
- Fischer, G., Friedman, N.R., Huang, J.-P., Narula, N., Knowles, L.L., Fisher, B.L., Mikheyev, A.S., Economo, E.P. 2020. Socially parasitic ants evolve a mosaic of host-matching and parasitic morphological traits. Current Biology 30, 3639–3646.e4 (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.078).
- Forel, A. 1895d. Nouvelles fourmis de l'Imerina oriental (Moramanga etc.). Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 39: 243-251 (page 248, worker described)
- Hoelldobler, B., and Wilson, E.O. (1990). The Ants (Harvard University Press).
- Maschwitz, U.; Dorow, W. H. O.; Buschinger, A.; Kalytta, G. 2000. Social parasitism involving ants of different subfamilies: Polyrhachis lama (Formicinae) an obligatory inquiline of Diacamma sp. (Ponerinae) in Java. Insectes Soc. 47: 27-35.
- Sumner, S., Nash, D.R., and Boomsma, J.J. (2003). The adaptive significance of inquiline parasite workers. Proc. Biol. Sci. 270, 1315–1322.
- Trible, W., Kronauer, D.J.C. 2021. Hourglass model for developmental evolution of ant castes. Trends in Ecology, Evolution 36, 100–103 (doi:10.1016/j.tree.2020.11.010).
- Wheeler, W. M. 1922k. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. IX. A synonymic list of the ants of the Malagasy region. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 4 45: 1005-1055 (see also)
- Wilson, E.O. (1971). The Insect Societies (Harvard University Press).
- Wilson, E.O. (1984). Tropical social parasites in the ant genus Pheidole, with an analysis of the anatomical parasitic syndrome (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insectes Soc. 31, 316–334.
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Fisher B. L. 1997. Biogeography and ecology of the ant fauna of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History 31: 269-302.
- Fisher B. L. 2003. Formicidae, ants. Pp. 811-819 in: Goodman, S. M.; Benstead, J. P. (eds.) 2003. The natural history of Madagascar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, xxi + 1709 pp.