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Pheidole obscurior
| Pheidole obscurior | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: | Pheidole |
| Species: | P. obscurior |
| Binomial name | |
| Pheidole obscurior Forel, 1886 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Identification
Casadei-Ferreira et al. (2020): Similar species are Pheidole cardinalis and Pheidole susannae. Majors of P. obscurior have the vertexal surface smooth, while in P. cardinalis it is sculptured. In addition, the pronotal dorsum of P. obscurior is strongly areolate, with few rugulae in majors, and with a combination of few standing flexuous and comparatively longer hairs, with dense, shorter, thin and apically curved hairs; while the pronotal surface of P. susannae is finely areolate in majors, bearing standing hairs only. Finally, sympatric populations between both species are unknown.
Distribution
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil (type locality), Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Lesser Antilles, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago.
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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Biology
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- obscurior. Pheidole susannae r. obscurior Forel, 1886b: xliv (s.w.) BRAZIL. Forel, 1893g: 410 (q.m.).
- Junior synonym of susannae: Longino, 2009: 79.
- Senior synonym of ovulata: Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12.
- Senior synonym of partita: Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12.
- Status as species: Wilson, 2003: 330; Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12.
- evoluta. Pheidole incisa subsp. evoluta Borgmeier, 1929: 204, pl. 6, fig. 3 (s.w.) BRAZIL.
- Junior synonym of susannae: Kempf, 1964e: 63.
- Junior synonym of obscurior: Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12.
- partita. Pheidole partita Mayr, 1887: 590 (s.), 604 (w.) BRAZIL.
- Junior synonym of susannae: Longino, 2009: 79.
- Junior synonym of obscurior: Wilson, 2003: 330; Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12.
Type Material
- Pheidole susannae obscurior: Lectotype (designated by Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12), major worker, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, JTLC000015316, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
- Pheidole susannae obscurior: Lectotype (designated by Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12), minor worker, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, JTLC000015316, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
- Pheidole incisa evoluta: Lectotype (designated by Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12), major worker, Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, CASENT0913456, Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel.
- Pheidole incisa evoluta: Paralectotype (designated by Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12), major worker, Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, CASENT0913457, Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel.
- Pheidole partita: Lectotype (designated by Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12), major worker, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, CASENT0916067, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna.
- Pheidole partita: Paralectotype (designated by Casadei-Ferreira, Economo & Feitosa, 2020: 12), major worker, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, CASENT0919784, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna.
Taxonomic Notes
Casadei-Ferreira et al. (2020): In previous studies (Forel 1886; Wilson, 2003), the authors recognized that differences between P. obscurior and Pheidole susannae were mainly related to the color pattern. Longino (2009) synonymized P. obscurior under P. susannae considering that the color pattern is variable in this widespread species. However, P. obscurior presents a very distinct pilosity pattern and pronotal sculpture, which was not recognized by previous authors. The same pilosity pattern and the overall morphology of P. obscurior is shared with Pheidole partita and Pheidole incisa evoluta. We revive Pheidole obscurior to species with P. partita and P. incisa evoluta as its junior synonyms.