Pheidole trinitatis

The type colony was found in a floodplain forest, nesting in a dead twig; and the Arena Forest Reserve colony was in secondary lowland rainforest, in a hollow fruit buried in sandy soil. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Known from the type locality, and from the Arena Forest Reserve, St. Andrew Co., Trinidad. (Wilson 2003)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Trinidad and Tobago.

Nomenclature

 *  trinitatis. Pheidole trinitatis Wilson, 2003: 527, figs. (s.w.) TRINIDAD.

Description
DIAGNOSIS Similar to Pheidole exigua, Pheidole flavens, Pheidole moerens, Pheidole nitidicollis, Pheidole nuculiceps, Pheidole orbica, Pheidole pholeops and Pheidole sculptior, distinguished as follows.

Major: reddish yellow, with brown gaster; rugoreticulum fills space between eyes, antennal fossa, and anterior head border on each side of head; very small patch of rugoreticulum on humerus; carinulae of frontal lobes extend posteriorly only to midpoint of head; all of head and body except gaster foveolate and opaque; mesonotal convexity well-developed; pronotal profile in dorsal-oblique view feebly bilobate; postpetiole from above diamond-shaped; pilosity sparse.

Minor: ventral profile of head in side view feebly concave; eyes set well forward on head and slightly tapered anteriorly; humerus dentate in dorsal-oblique view; all of body except gaster foveolate and opaque, and carinulae limited to antennal fossae; mesosomal pilosity sparse, consisting at least partly of widely spaced pairs of setae.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.90, HL 0.54, SL 0.48, EL 0.10, PW 0.44. Paratype minor: HW 0.46, HL 0.50, SL 0.44, EL 0.06, PW 0.30.

COLOR Major: body appendages medium reddish yellow (“orange”) except for gaster, which is plain medium brown.

Minor: concolorous light reddish yellow (“light orange”).



'''Figure. Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.'''

Type Material
TRINIDAD: Bridge 1/7, east of Valencia, St. Andrew Parish, col. Stefan Cover.

Etymology
Named after the country from which the type specimens originated.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
 * Wilson, E.O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Genus. Harvard University Press