Pheidole tobini
Pheidole tobini | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Formicidae |
Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
Tribe: | Attini |
Genus: | Pheidole |
Species: | P. tobini |
Binomial name | |
Pheidole tobini Wilson, 2003 |
The type colony was found in terra firme rainforest, nesting in an epiphyte mass on a large fallen tree. A second colony was discovered at the same locality and habitat, nesting beneath the bark of a fallen log at the edge of a tree gap. (Wilson 2003)
Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Only known from the type locality.
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: -0.631944444° to -12.497473°.
North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Ecuador, Peru (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.
- tobini. Pheidole tobini Wilson, 2003: 356, figs. (s.w.) PERU.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
A member of the fallax group, similar to Pheidole fallax, Pheidole jelskii, Pheidole obscurithorax, Pheidole puttemansi, Pheidole roushae and Pheidole valens, and distinguished as follows.
Major: dark brown; head narrowed toward occiput in side view, and subrectangular in full-face view; occipital cleft deep; posterior fourth of head, including occiput, and frontal lobes longitudinally carinulate, contrasting with the mostly rugoreticulate anterior threefourths of the head; humerus in dorsal-oblique view subangulate; petiolar peduncle thin, and node in side view tapering almost to a point at the apex; anterior half of the first gastral tergite shagreened and opaque.
Minor: occiput constricted to a neck with a broad nuchal collar; petiolar peduncle slender.
MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.68, HL 1.80, SL 1.00, EL 0.22, PW 0.80. Paratype minor: HW 0.56, HL 0.82, SL 1.12, EL 0.14, PW 0.44.
COLOR Major: head dark reddish brown, body dark and in some places blackish brown.
Minor: head, mesosoma, and petiolar peduncle medium brown; gaster and rest of waist light brown; appendages light brown.
Figure. Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.
Type Material
PERU: Cuzco Amazónico, 15 km northeast of Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, col. Stefan Cover and John E. Tobin. Museum of Comparative Zoology
Etymology
Named after John E. Tobin, one of the collectors, and a student of the Amazon arboreal ant fauna.
References
- Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 356, fig. major, minor described)
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Mertl A. L., J. F. A. Traniello, K. Ryder Wilkie, and R. Constantino. 2012. Associations of two ecologically significant social insect taxa in the litter of an amazonian rainforest: is there a relationship between ant and termite species richness? Psyche doi:10.1155/2012/312054