Pheidole scrobifera

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Pheidole scrobifera
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. scrobifera
Binomial name
Pheidole scrobifera
Emery, 1896

Pheidole scrobifera casent0904449 p 1 high.jpg

Pheidole scrobifera casent0904449 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

According to Longino (1997), as well as Stefan Cover and James C. Trager (independent field notes), scrobifera is relatively common in mature wet forest, nesting in rotten logs and other pieces of rotten wood on the forest floor. Workers have been observed foraging at night. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Atlantic slope of Costa Rica to 900 m (Longino 1997).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 13.7695496° to 9.4817844°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

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

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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

Pheidole scrobifera casent0904450 h 1 high.jpgPheidole scrobifera casent0904450 p 1 high.jpgPheidole scrobifera casent0904450 d 1 high.jpgPheidole scrobifera casent0904450 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Pheidole scrobiferaWorker. Specimen code casent0904450. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

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

  • scrobifera. Pheidole scrobifera Emery, 1896g: 73, pl. 1, fig. 14 (s.w.q.m.) COSTA RICA. Combination in P. (Scrobopheidole): Emery, 1915i: 190. See also: Wilson, 2003: 629.

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 Distinguished from other members of the scrobifera group as follows.

Major: pilosity very short, absent on anterior half of dorsal profile of head and present as uniform, suberect hairs along the posterior half of the profile; entire dorsal head surface posterior to the eyes rugoreticulate; promesonotal sculpturing consisting entirely of foveolation; petiolar and postpetiolar nodes entirely smooth and shiny; head capsule with bilateral dark spots.

Minor: humerus cornulate; propodeal spines long and slender; dorsal head surface and all of mesosoma foveolate, with no carinulae or rugulae anywhere on the body.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Major (La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica): HW 0.88, HL 1.08, SL 0.42, EL 0.14, PW 0.54. Minor (La Selva Biological Station): HW 0.44, HL 0.46, SL 0.36, EL 0.10, PW 0.30.

COLOR Major: head and mandibles light reddish brown, with bilateral dark brown spots on the dorsal surface, as illustrated; mesosoma a slightly lighter shade of light reddish brown; waist, gaster, legs, and antennae brownish yellow.

Minor: head and mesosoma dark, slightly reddish yellow; appendages clear medium yellow.


Pheidole scrobifera Wilson 2003.jpg

Figure. Upper: major (right hind femur shown at bottom). Lower: minor. COSTA RICA: La Selva Biological Station, near Puerto Viejo , col. Stefan Cover. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Type Specimen Labels

Type Material

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

Etymology

L scrobifera, trench-bearer, alluding to the antennal scrobes. (Wilson 2003)

References

  • Emery, C. 1896g. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XVII-XXV. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 28: 33-107 (page 73, pl. 1, fig. 14 soldier, worker, queen, male described)
  • Emery, C. 1915g. Noms de sous-genres et de genres proposés pour la sous-famille des Myrmicinae. Modifications à la classification de ce groupe (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 1915: 189-192 (page 190, Combination in P. (Scrobopheidole))
  • Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 629, 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.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • 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. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/