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Pheidole nigricula
| Pheidole nigricula | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: | Pheidole |
| Species: | P. nigricula |
| Binomial name | |
| Pheidole nigricula Wilson, 2003
| |
This tiny species inhabits mature rainforest where it nests in rotten hollow twigs in leaf litter on the forest floor. (Wilson 2003)
Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Atlantic lowlands to 800 m in Costa Rica (Longino 1997).
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 15.6864989° to 4.7315°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Costa Rica (type locality), Honduras, Nicaragua.
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
Castes
Worker
Minor
Images from AntWeb
  
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| Worker. Specimen code casent0635498. Photographer J. Longino, uploaded by University of Utah. | Owned by JTLC. |
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- nigricula. Pheidole nigricula Wilson, 2003: 472, figs. (s.w.) COSTA RICA.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
DIAGNOSIS Similar in various traits to Pheidole exquisita, Pheidole nitella, Pheidole pygmaeaand Pheidole sagittaria, differing as follows.
Major: blackish brown; very small; head elongate; frontal triangle not demarcated; eyes placed well forward on head; humerus low and lobate; propodeal spines equilaterally triangular; postpetiole from above elliptical; dorsal surface of head, including occiput but not midclypeus, foveolate; mesosoma almost entirely smooth and shiny.
Minor: carinulae limited to antennal fossae; all of head and mesosoma smooth and shiny; propodeal spines moderately long, and thin; occiput broad, its margin weakly concave, and lacking nuchal collar.
MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.56, HL 0.70, SL 0.26, EL 0.10, PW 0.34. Paratype minor: HW 0.34, HL 0.40, SL 0.30, EL 0.06, PW 0.24.
COLOR Major: concolorous blackish brown, appendages medium brown. Minor: sides of mesosoma medium to dark reddish brown; rest of body, and appendages, dark, almost blackish brown.
Figure. Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.
Type Material
COSTA RICA: La Selva Biological Station, near Puerto Viejo, Heredia, col. Stefan Cover. Museum of Comparative Zoology
Etymology
L nigricula, little dark one.
References
- Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 472, fig. major, minor described)
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
- LaPolla, J.S. and S.P. Cover. 2005. New species of Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Guyana, with a list of species known from the country. Tranactions of the American Entomological Society 131(3-4):365-374
- Lapolla, J. S., and S. P. Cover. "New species of Pheidole (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) from Guyana, with a list of species known from the country." Transactions of the American Entomological Society 131, no. 3-4 (2005): 365-374.
- Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Nicargua. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-nicaragua
- Longino J. T. L., and M. G. Branstetter. 2018. The truncated bell: an enigmatic but pervasive elevational diversity pattern in Middle American ants. Ecography 41: 1-12.
- Longino J. T., and R. K. Colwell. 2011. Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2(3): 16pp.