Pheidole madecassa

Pheidole madecassa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species:	P. madecassa
Binomial name
Pheidole madecassa Forel, 1892 Specimen labels

This species has been collected between 475–1200 m elevation, in rainforest and montane rainforest. Nests were located in rotten logs, dead branches above the ground, and root mats. Workers were collected from sifted litter and on low vegetation (Salata & Fisher, 2020).

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.

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

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 host for the ant Pheidole lucida (a inquiline) in Madagascar (Fischer et al., 2020).

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Pheidole madecassa. Worker. Specimen code casent0101897. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Pheidole  X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Pheidole madecassa (minor worker) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.

A minor worker. See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.

Pheidole  X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Pheidole madecassa (major worker) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.

A major worker. See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.

Queen

Pheidole  X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Pheidole madecassa (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.

• madecassa. Pheidole madecassa Forel, 1892k: 525 (s.w.) MADAGASCAR.

Type Material

• LECTOTYPE: [designated by Salata & Fisher, 2020: 35]: 1s., bottom specimen on the pin, Madagascar, Toamasina, Mangoro river, coll. Sikora, CASENT0101707, ANTC3400 (MHNG).
• PARALECTOTYPES: 1s., top specimen, the same pin as lectotype, CASENT0876545, ANTC3400 (MHNG); 2w., the same data as lectotype, CASENT0101897, ANTC3401 (MHNG).

References

• 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. 1892l. Nouvelles espèces de Formicides de Madagascar (récoltées par M. Sikora). Première série. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 36: 516-535 (page 525, soldier, worker described)
• Salata, S., Fisher, B.L. 2020. The ant genus Pheidole Westwood, 1839 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Madagascar—taxonomic revision of the bessonii species-group. Zootaxa 4843 (1): 1–64 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4843.1.1).
• 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)

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.