Pheidole rogeri

Pheidole rogeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species:	P. rogeri
Binomial name
Pheidole rogeri Emery, 1896 Specimen Labels

Nests in soil in wet forests; the colonies are difficult to locate during excavation even when the nests are opened carefully (Longino 1997).

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Pheidole tristis group

Distribution

Atlantic slope of Costa Rica to 800 m (Longino 1997).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 13.7695434° to -1.77°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Costa Rica (type locality), Honduras.

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.

Nomenclature

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

• rogeri. Pheidole rogeri Emery, 1896g: 64 (s.) COSTA RICA. See also: Wilson, 2003: 741.

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

Description

From Wilson (2003): DIAGNOSIS A very large species with “brick red” (clear light reddish brown) majors and brownish yellow minors.

Major and minor with extremely long propodeal spines.

Major: all of anterior dorsal three-fourths of head covered by densely packed parallel longitudinal carinae; mesonotal convexity low, subangulate in side view; anterior margin of postpetiolar surface projecting as a small toothlike process in side view.

Similar to Pheidole alpinensis, Pheidole exarata, Pheidole excubitor, Pheidole germaini, Pheidole grandinodus, Pheidole obrima, Pheidole stulta, Pheidole tristis and Pheidole zoster, differing in many details of body form, sculpturing, and pilosity, as illustrated, and in color.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Unique holotype major: HW 2.40, HL 2.64, SL 1.06, EL 0.24, PW 1.12. Minor (La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica): HW 0.68, HL 0.84, SL 1.04, EL 0.14, PW 0.46.

COLOR Major: the holotype is a rich concolorous light reddish brown (“brick red”), with a yellowish tinge. Majors in the La Selva Biological Station series have the brick red color in the head, mesosoma, and waist, but the gaster is plain medium brown, and the propodeal spines are blackish brown; and in addition, faint iridescent blue reflections can be seen on the dorsal surface of the body in certain angles of light.

Minor: brownish yellow overall.

Figure. Upper: major (compared with unique holotype major in Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova). Lower: minor. COSTA RICA: La Selva Biological Station, near Puerto Viejo, Heredia (D. Roth). Scale bars = 1 mm.

Type Specimen Labels

Type Material

“Jiménez,” near Guápiles, Costa Rica. Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

Eponymous. (Wilson 2003)

References

• Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 741, fig. major, minor described)
• Albuquerque, E., Prado, L., Andrade-Silva, J., Siqueira, E., Sampaio, K., Alves, D., Brandão, C., Andrade, P., Feitosa, R., Koch, E., Delabie, J., Fernandes, I., Baccaro, F., Souza, J., Almeida, R., Silva, R. 2021. Ants of the State of Pará, Brazil: a historical and comprehensive dataset of a key biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon Basin. Zootaxa 5001, 1–83 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5001.1.1).
• Emery, C. 1896g. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XVII-XXV. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 28: 33-107 (page 64, soldier described)
• Guerrero, R.J., García, E., Fernández, F. 2022. The Pheidole Westwood, 1839 ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Colombia: new records including two species with remarkable morphology. Zootaxa 5154 (3): 319-332 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5154.3.5).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• 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., J. Coddington, and R. K. Colwell. 2002. The ant fauna of a tropical rain forest: estimating species richness three different ways. Ecology 83: 689-702.
• 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.
• Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
• Ottonetti L., L. Tucci, F. Frizzi, G. Chelazzi, and G. Santini. 2010. Changes in ground-foraging ant assemblages along a disturbance gradient in a tropical agricultural landscape. Ethology Ecology & Evolution 22: 73–86.