Pheidole sospes

Pheidole sospes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species:	P. sospes
Binomial name
Pheidole sospes Forel, 1908 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Pheidole minutissima Kusnezov, 1952

At Cuzco Amazónico, Stefan Cover and John E. Tobin collected four colonies, all in terra firme forest, nesting in small rotten sticks on the forest floor. (Wilson 2003) Similarly, Fernandes et al. (2018) found it commonly nesting in twigs within leaf litter.

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Pheidole flavens group

Distribution

São Paulo, Brazil; Misiones (El Dorado) in extreme northeastern Argentina; and Cuzco Amazónico, near Maldonado, Madre de Dios, Peru. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 4.732° to -31.632389°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil (type locality), Colombia, Ecuador, Peru.

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.

Castes

Worker

Minor

Images from AntWeb

Paralectotype of Pheidole sospes. Worker. Specimen code casent0908250. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

• sospes. Pheidole anastasii var. sospes Forel, 1908c: 381 (s.w.) BRAZIL. Subspecies of anastasii: Santschi, 1929d: 291. Raised to species and senior synonym of minutissima: Wilson, 2003: 509.
• minutissima. Pheidole minutissima Kusnezov, 1952b: 78 (s.w.) ARGENTINA. Junior synonym of sospes: Wilson, 2003: 509.

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 medium-sized, yellow member of the flavens group; the major has shallow but well-developed antennal scrobes; rugoreticulation across all of the occiput; a small mesonotal convexity, and angulate lateral postpetiolar margins, as well as posteriorly directed propodeal spine and rugoreticulate humerus. Resembles ademonia and peltastes, but easily distinguished by many features of sculpturing, development of the scrobe, and presence in the major of the mesonotal convexity, as illustrated.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Lectotype major: HW 0.84, HL 0.92, SL 0.44, EL 0.12, PW 0.44. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.44, HL 0.46, SL 0.42, EL 0.08, PW 0.30.

COLOR Major: appendages and gaster clear yellow, rest of body a slightly contrasting reddish yellow (“orange”).

Minor: concolorous clear yellow.

Figure. Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Type Material

BRAZIL: São Paulo. Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

L sospes, saving, delivering, significance unknown. (Wilson 2003)

References

• Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 509, fig. major, minor described, Raised to species: new status)
• Barroso, S.C., Longui, E.L., Fernandes, T.T., Oliveira, C.M., Ferreira, A.C., Silva, R.R., Morini, M.S.C. 2020. Twigs occupied by Pheidole Westwood, 1839: Is there a difference between species? Biota Neotropica 20: e20190897 (doi:10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2019-0897).
• Fernandes, T.T., Souza-Campana, D.R., Silva, R.R., Morini, M.S.C. 2018. Ants that frequently colonize twigs in the leaf litter of different vegetation habitats. Sociobiology 65: 340-344 (DOI 10.13102/sociobiology.v65i2.2742).
• Forel, A. 1908h. Ameisen aus Sao Paulo (Brasilien), Paraguay etc. gesammelt von Prof. Herm. v. Ihering, Dr. Lutz, Dr. Fiebrig, etc. Verh. K-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 58: 340-418 (page 381, soldier, worker described)
• Santschi, F. 1929d. Nouvelles fourmis de la République Argentine et du Brésil. An. Soc. Cient. Argent. 107: 273-316 (page 291, Stirps of anastasii)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Cuezzo, F. 1998. Formicidae. Chapter 42 in Morrone J.J., and S. Coscaron (dirs) Biodiversidad de artropodos argentinos: una perspectiva biotaxonomica Ediciones Sur, La Plata. Pages 452-462.
• Fernandes T. T., R. R. Silva, D. Rodrigues de Souza-Campana, O. Guilherme Morais da Silva, and M. Santina de Castro Morini. 2019. Winged ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) presence in twigs on the leaf litter of Atlantic Forest. Biota Neotropica 19(3): http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2018-0694
• Fernandes T. T., W. Dattilo, R. R. Silva, P. Luna, C. M. Oliveira, and M. Santina de Castro Morini. 2019. Ant occupation of twigs in the leaf litter of the Atlantic Forest: influence of the environment and external twig structure. Tropical Conservation Science 12: 1-9.
• Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
• Fleck M. D., E. Bisognin Cantarelli, and F. Granzotto. 2015. Register of new species of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Rio Grande do Sul state. Ciencia Florestal, Santa Maria 25(2): 491-499.
• Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
• Kusnezov N. 1952. El género Pheidole en la Argentina (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Acta Zoologica Lilloana 12: 5-88.
• Kusnezov N. 1978. Hormigas argentinas: clave para su identificación. Miscelánea. Instituto Miguel Lillo 61:1-147 + 28 pl.
• 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.
• Luederwaldt H. 1918. Notas myrmecologicas. Rev. Mus. Paul. 10: 29-64.
• Suguituru S. S., M. Santina de Castro Morini, R. M. Feitosa, and R. Rosa da Silva. 2015. Formigas do Alto Tiete. Canal 6 Editora 458 pages
• Vittar, F. 2008. Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de la Mesopotamia Argentina. INSUGEO Miscelania 17(2):447-466
• Vittar, F., and F. Cuezzo. "Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de la provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina." Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina (versión On-line ISSN 1851-7471) 67, no. 1-2 (2008).