Pheidole funkikoensis

Identification
Wheeler (1929) - I describe this species as new because I am unable to assign it to any of the Indomalayan Pheidoles of which I have seen specimens or descriptions. In some respects it resembles Pheidole nietneri of Ceylon but is obviously quite distinct. Pheidole pieli, recently described by Santschi from China, is more closely related to lunkikoensis, but the latter exhibits numerous small differences in structure and sculpture.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Oriental Region: Taiwan. Palaearctic Region: China.

Nomenclature

 *  funkikoensis. Pheidole funkikoensis Wheeler, W.M. 1929g: 40, fig. 4 (s.w.) TAIWAN.

Worker
Soldier Length nearly 3 mm.

Head large, as broad as long, somewhat broader behind than in front, with deeply, angularly excised posterior border and rather rounded sides. Eyes small, moderately convex, situated at the anterior fourth of the sides of the head. Occipital groove broad, rather shallow, reaching the middle of the head and there becoming continuous with the frontal groove. Gular teeth coarse and prominent. Mandibles large and convex. Clypeus short, flat, with a minute central tubercle, the anterior border merely sinuate in the middle and on each side. Frontal area rounded-triangular, deeply impressed. Frontal carinae continued as diverging rugae to the posterior third of the head and forming the inner borders of broad and shallow but distinct, scrobe-like impressions for the antennae. Antennae slender; scapes scarcely reaching the posterior third of the head, cylindrical, curved at the base; funicular joints 2-8 as broad as long; club as long as the remainder of the funiculus, the apical joint as long as the two subequal basal joints together. Thorax small and thickset, less than half as broad as the head through the very convex and rounded promesonotum; humeral tubercles large and distinct but very bluntly rounded; promesonotal suture indistinct. Mesonotum abruptly sloping, with broad, thick torus; mesoepinotal impression pronounced; epinotum small, elongate with subequal base and declivity, the former straight and horizontal, the latter feebly sloping, the dorsal surface concave, the spines erect and acute, nearly one-third as long as the base of the epinotum, longer than broad at their bases, shorter than their distance apart. Petiole small and simple, unarmed beneath, the node rounded above, but slightly compressed anteroposteriorly, its upper border indistinctly emarginate in the middle. Postpetiole twice as broad as the petiolar node, slightly broader than long, rounded above, with the sides sharply angulate or conical stonn the middle. Gaster much smaller than the head, lenticular, subcircular. Legs rather stout, femora and tibiaw somewhat thickened.

Shining; mandibles sparsely and evenly punctate, their external borders rather coarsely, longitudinally rugose. Clypeus very smooth in the middle, longitudinally rugulose on the sides. Head with smooth and sparsely punctate posterior corners; the remainder with sharp, rather widely separated, posteriorly diverging longitudinal rugae, with smooth, irregularly, sparsely and indistinctly punctate interstices. Scrobes feebly and obscurely reticulate. Only the anterior half of the gula rugose and only on its sides. Pronotum loosely and very irregularly, transversely rugose; meso-and epinotum and sides of petiole indistinctly punctate-rugulose. Gaster with small, scattered, piligerous punctures.

Hairs yellowish, rather short, very uneven, moderately abundant, erect or suberect on the body, finel' and more oblique on the legs and antennae.

Yellowish ferruginous; gaster yellowish brown; mandibles reddish, with broad black bordors; anterior border of clypeus deep red. Legs yellow. One specimen has the head darker and more fuscous on the vertex.

Minor Length 1.8-2 mm.

Head rounded-rectangular, as broad as long and slightly broader in front than behind, with rounded sides and posterior corners, the posterior border entire. Eyes small, their posterior orbits at the median transverse diameter of the head. Mandibles with slightly concave external borders, the apical borders rather oblique, finely dentate. Clypeus evenly convex, its anterior border straight and entire in the middle. Frontal area large, subtriangular, shallow, with a faint median carinula; frontal groove obsolete. Antennal scapes reaching nearly one-third their length beyond the posterior corners of the head. Thorax similar to that of the soldier, but the pronotum much less convex, the mesonotal torus feeble, the epinotal spines reduced to minute, acute teeth. Petiolar node small and rounded; postpetiole somewhat broader, subspherical, scarcely broader than long.

Shining, head and thorax somewhat less so than the mandibles and gaster; mandibles sparsely punctate. Head very feebly and loosely longitudinally rugulose; the rnesonotum with a few indistinct transverse rugules; petiole and postpetiole smooth throughout. Gaster with very fine, sparse and indistinct piligerous punctures.

Pilosity similar to that of the soldier but sparser and finer.

Brownish yellow, legs scarcely paler; borders. of mandibles and clypeus reddish.

Type Material
Described from two soldiers and seven workers taken at Funkiko, Formosa.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
 * Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
 * Huang Jian-hua, Zhou Shan-yi. 2007. A checklist of family Formicidae of China - Myrmicinae (Part II) (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Journal of Guangxi Normal University : Natural Science Edition 25(1): 91-99.
 * Li Z.h. 2006. List of Chinese Insects. Volume 4. Sun Yat-sen University Press
 * Terayama M. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University. Liberal Arts 17:81-266.
 * Terayama, M. 2009. A synopsis of the family Formicidae of Taiwan (Insecta; Hymenoptera). The Research Bulletin of Kanto Gakuen University 17: 81-266.
 * Wang Wei. 1998. A taxonomic study of ant in Hubei area. Journal of Hubei Institute for Nationalities 16(3): 83-85.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1929. Ants collected by Professor F. Silvestri in Formosa, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 24: 27-64.