Pheidole pidax

Pheidole pidax
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species:	P. pidax
Binomial name
	Pheidole pidax; Wilson, 2003

The type colony was collected in montane rainforest. Winged queens were present on 28 July.

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Only known from the type locality.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 8.699039° to 8.699039°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Colombia (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

Castes

Nomenclature

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

pidax. Pheidole pidax Wilson, 2003: 732, figs. (s.w.) COLOMBIA.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

DIAGNOSIS Sharing some traits with Pheidole guayasana, Pheidole rhytifera, Pheidole rosae, Pheidole rosula, Pheidole securigera, as well as others with some members of the flavens group, distinguished as follows.

Major: frontal lobes extended forward as blunt right-angular processes; shallow antennal scrobes present; propodeal spines half as long as basal propodeal face anterior to them; hypostoma 2-toothed; humerus in dorsal-oblique view very prominent, right-angular; carinulae originating on frontal lobes and seen in full-face view spread outward, away from the midline, for their entire length.

Minor: propodeal spines half as long as basal propodeal face and curved strongly backward; all of head, mesosoma, and petiole foveolate and opaque.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.24, HL 1.56, SL 0.62, EL 0.22, PW 0.64. Paratype minor: HW 0.56, HL 0.60, SL 0.62, EL 0.12, PW 0.38.

COLOR Major: body brownish yellow, appendages plain medium yellow.

Minor: concolorous medium yellow.

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

Type Material

COLOMBIA: Queremal, Rio San Juan, Valle, 1300 m, col. William L. Brown. Museum of Comparative Zoology

Etymology

Gr pidax, fountain, referring to the spray-like pattern of the cephalic carinulae.

References

Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 732, fig. major, minor described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Wilson E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, [ix] + 794 pp.