Pheidole taipoana

Pheidole taipoana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species:	P. taipoana
Binomial name
	Pheidole taipoana; Wheeler, W.M., 1928 Type Specimen Label

This species occurs more frequently in woody gardens and forest edges than in either open lands or well-developed forests, and nests in the soil (Eguchi et al. 2004).

Identification

Eguchi (2008) - This species is characterized among Indo-Chinese species by the following combination of features: in the major head in lateral view strongly impressed on vertex; in the minor dorsal and lateral faces of head and promesonotal dome smooth and shining; in the major frons and anterior part of vertex sparsely with weak longitudinal rugulae, with interspaces smooth and shining; in the major posterior part of vertex and dorsal and dorsolateral facecs of vertexal lobe reticulate, with enclosures punctured; in the major hypostoma in the middle with a conspicuous median process and a pair of conspicuous submedian processes; in the minor maximal diameter of eye longer than antennal segment X; in the major and minor promesonotal dome at most with an inconspicuous mound on its posterior slope.

This species is very similar to Pheidole laevicolor Eguchi, but distinguished from the latter which has the following characteristics of the major: head in lateral view weakly or hardly impressed on vertex; vertex reticulate entirely, with enclosures punctured.

Keys including this Species

Key to the Pheidole of North Vietnam

Distribution

Known from Vietnam, S. China and Taiwan.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 19.313671° to 19.313671°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: Vietnam.
Palaearctic Region: China (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.

taipoana. Pheidole rinae subsp. taipoana Wheeler, W.M. 1928c: 12 (s.w.) CHINA. Raised to species: Eguchi, Yamane & Zhou, 2007: 271.

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

Description

Worker

Eguchi (2008) - Major (n=6). — HL 1.00–1.08 mm; HW 0.87–0.93 mm; CI 85–88; SL 0.41–0.45 mm; SI 46–50; FL 0.58–0.62 mm; FI 66–69. Minor (n=6). — HL 0.45–0.48 mm; HW 0.39–0.43 mm; CI 87–89; SL 0.40–0.44 mm; SI 100–104; FL 0.44–0.48 mm; FI 108–113.

Major — Head in lateral view strongly impressed on vertex; frons and anterior part of vertex sparsely sculptured with weak longitudinal rugulae, with interspaces smooth; posterior part of vertex and dorsal and dorsolateral faces of vertexal lobe reticulate; frontal carina weak, extending beyond midlength of head; antennal scrobe inconspicuous; clypeus without median longitudinal carina; median and submedian processes of hypostoma conspicuous; lateral processes conspicuous to small; antenna with a 3-segmented club; maximal diameter of eye much longer than antennal segment X. Promesonotal dome at most with an inconspicuous mound on its posterior slope; humerus of the dome weakly produced laterad; the dome (a little) broader at the humeri than at the bottom. Petiole much longer than postpetiole (excluding helcium); postpetiole not massive. First gastral tergite largely smooth and shining, or weakly puctured at most around its articulation with postpetiole.

Minor — Head smooth and shining; preoccipital carina inconspicuous to very weak dorsally; median part of clypeus smooth and shining, without a median longitudinal carina; antenna with a 3-segmented club; scape exceeding posterior margin of head by half length or almost the length of antennal segment II; maximal diameter of eye longer than antennal segment X. Promesonotal dome smooth and shining, in lateral view at most with an inconspicuous mound on its posterior slope; humerus in dorso-oblique view not or very weakly produced; mesopleuron, metapleuron and lateral face of propodeum almost smooth or very weakly punctured; propodeal spine elongate-triangular or spiniform. Petiole much longer than postpetiole (excluding helcium); postpetiole not massive.

Lectotype Specimen Labels

Type Material

Eguchi (2008) - Lectotype: major, “Taipo, Silvestri” [Taipo, New Territory, Hong Kong], Museum of Comparative Zoology cotype-20670, examined; paralectotypes: 2 majors & 6 minors, same data as the lectotype, MCZC cotype- 20670, examined.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Anh L. N., K. Ogata, and S. Hosoichi. 2010. Ants of agricultural fields in Vietnam (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bull. Inst. Trop. Agr., Kyushu Univ. 33: 1-11.
Eguchi K. 2001. A taxonomic study on Asian Pheidole (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): new synonymy, rank changes, lectotype designations and redescriptions. Insecta Koreana 18: 1-35.
Eguchi K. 2008. A revision of Northern Vietnamese species of the ant genus Pheidole (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Zootaxa 1902: 1-118.
Eguchi K., S. Yamane, and S.Y. Zho. 2007. Taxonomic revision of the Pheidole rinae Emery complex. Sociobiology 50 (1): 275-284.
Eguchi K.; Bui T. V.; Yamane S. 2004. A preliminary study on foraging distance and nesting sites of ants in the Indo-Chinese lowland vegetation (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Sociobiology 43: 445-457.
Eguchi K.; Bui T. V.; Yamane S. 2011. Generic synopsis of the Formicidae of Vietnam (Insecta: Hymenoptera), part I Myrmicinae and Pseudomyrmecinae. Zootaxa 2878: 1-61.
Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
Ngoc Anh L., K. Ogata, and S. Hosoishi. 2010. Ants of agricultural fields in Vietnam (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bull. Inst. Trop. Agr. Kyushu Univ. 33: 1-11.
Pan Y.S. 2007. Systematic Study on the Ant Genera Pheidole Westwood and Aphaenogaster Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formincidae : Myrmicinae) In China. Guangxi Normal University, Guangxi, China. 73 pages.
Wheeler W. M. 1928. Ants collected by Professor F. Silvestri in China. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 22: 3-38.
Wheeler W. M. 1929. Some ants from China and Manchuria. American Museum Novitates 361: 1-11.
Wheeler W. M. 1930. A list of the known Chinese ants. Peking Natural History Bulletin 5: 53-81.