Pheidole crassicornis

From Wilson (2003): "In northern Florida, Naves (1985) found the species sympatric with Pheidole diversipilosa, nesting in deep soil in forest clearings. The inconspicuous nest openings were never surrounded by craters of excavated soil of the kind common in other soil-dwelling species of Pheidole, and the vertical galleries ran at least 60 cm deep. Minors and occasionally majors foraged 4 meters or more from the nest entrances, and minors were observed retrieving live termites and small dead arthropods. In western Texas, Moody and Francke (1982) found colonies at 100–1700 m, nesting under stones and in open soil."

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
North Carolina to northern Florida and west to western Texas. (Wilson 2003)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States. Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Biology
Atchison & Lucky (2022) found that this species does not remove seeds.

Worker
Minor

Nomenclature

 *  crassicornis. Pheidole crassicornis Emery, 1895c: 296 (s.) U.S.A. Forel, 1901e: 350 (w.m.). See also: Wilson, 2003: 152.

Description
From Wilson (2003): A member of the crassicornis group distinguished by the following combination of traits.

Major: thickened basal portion of scape strongly curved toward the insertion, as illustrated; pilosity very sparse, usually almost absent from the head and gaster; humerus subangulate in dorsal-oblique view; pronotal dorsum marginally carinulate.

Minor: all of dorsal surface of head except middle of clypeus and frontal triangle, as well as all of mesosoma and waist, foveolate and opaque.

See also Pheidole diversipilosa, Pheidole porcula, Pheidole tetra and Pheidole vallicola.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Major (Belmont, North Carolina): HW 1.30, HL 1.30, SL 0.78, EL 0.20, PW 0.64. Minor (Belmont, North Carolina): HW 0.62, HL 0.74, SL 0.84, EL 0.10, PW 0.44.

COLOR Major: concolorous brownish yellow.

Minor: concolorous yellowish brown.



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

Type Material
NORTH CAROLINA: Belmont, Gaston Co., near Charlotte. (Labeled to species by Carlos Emery and likely part of his type series; the type locality is Charlotte.) and presumably  - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology
L crassicornis, thick horn, referring to the expanded basal part of the antennal scape. (Wilson 2003)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Alatorre-Bracamontes, C.E. and M Vasquez-Bolanos. 2010. Lista comentada de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del norte de México. Dugesiana 17(1):9-36
 * Bestelmeyer B. T., and J. A. Wiens. 2001. Local and regional-scale responses of ant diversity to a semiarid biome transition. Ecography 24: 381-392.
 * Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
 * Dennis C. A. 1938. The distribution of ant species in Tennessee with reference to ecological factors. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 31: 267-308.
 * Deyrup, M. 2003. An updated list of Florida ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist 86(1):43-48.
 * Forel A. 1901. Variétés myrmécologiques. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 45: 334-382.
 * Forster J.A. 2005. The Ants (hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Alabama. Master of Science, Auburn University. 242 pages.
 * Graham J.H., H.H. Hughie, S. Jones, K. Wrinn, A.J. Krzysik, J.J. Duda, D.C. Freeman, J.M. Emlen, J.C. Zak, D.A. Kovacic, C. Chamberlin-Graham, H. Balbach. 2004. Habitat disturbance and the diversity and abundance of ants (Formicidae) in the Southeastern Fall-Line Sandhills. 15pp. Journal of Insect Science. 4: 30
 * Graham, J.H., A.J. Krzysik, D.A. Kovacic, J.J. Duda, D.C. Freeman, J.M. Emlen, J.C. Zak, W.R. Long, M.P. Wallace, C. Chamberlin-Graham, J.P. Nutter and H.E. Balbach. 2008. Ant Community Composition across a Gradient of Disturbed Military Landscapes at Fort Benning, Georgia. Southeastern Naturalist 7(3):429-448
 * Guénard B., K. A. Mccaffrey, A. Lucky, and R. R. Dunn. 2012. Ants of North Carolina: an updated list (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3552: 1-36.
 * Ipser R. M. 2004. Native and exotic ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Georgia: Ecological Relationships with implications for development of biologically-based management strategies. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, University of Georgia. 165 pages.
 * Johnson C. 1986. A north Florida ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insecta Mundi 1: 243-246
 * MacGown, J.A and J.A. Forster. 2005. A preliminary list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Alabama, U.S.A. Entomological News 116(2):61-74
 * Moody J. V., and O. F. Francke. 1982. The Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Western Texas Part 1: Subfamily Myrmicinae. Graduate Studies Texas Tech University 27: 80 pp.
 * Nash M. S., W. G. Whitford, J. Van Zee, and K. M. Havstad. 2000. Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) responses to environmental stressors in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. Environ. Entomol, 29(2): 200-206.
 * O'Keefe S. T., J. L. Cook, T. Dudek, D. F. Wunneburger, M. D. Guzman, R. N. Coulson, and S. B. Vinson. 2000. The Distribution of Texas Ants. The Southwestern Entomologist 22: 1-92.
 * Van Pelt A., and J. B. Gentry. 1985. The ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Savannah River Plant, South Carolina. Dept. Energy, Savannah River Ecology Lab., Aiken, SC., Report SRO-NERP-14, 56 p.
 * Vasquez-Bolanos M. 2011. Checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Mexico. Dugesiana 18(1): 95-133.
 * Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
 * Wheeler W. M. 1904. The ants of North Carolina. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 20: 299-306.
 * Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1985. A checklist of Texas ants. Prairie Naturalist 17:49-64.
 * Wilson, E.O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Genus. Harvard University Press