Pheidole argentina

A permanent workerless parasite of Pheidole nitidula. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
The original line drawing from Bruch (1932):



See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Only known from the type locality.

This taxon was described from Argentina.

Castes
This species is a workerless parasite.

Description
From Wilson (2003): An extreme workerless parasite of Pheidole nitidula. The queen possesses a trait unique within the ants: the antenna is 10-segmented, with a well-developed, 1-segmented club. Also, the body is somewhat pupiform and the mandibles are reduced to toothless straps.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Syntype queen: according to Bruch (1932), the total length of a queen in the type series is 1.7 mm.

COLOR Head, especially vertex, brownish yellow; mesosoma, waist, and gaster (except the apex) grayish brown.



'''Figure. Syntype, queen. (Adapted from Bruch 1932.) Scale bars = 1 mm.'''

Type Material
- as reported in Wilson (2003)

Type Locality Information
ARGENTINA: Alta Gracia (La Granja), Sierra de Córdoba, col. Carlos Bruch. (Wilson 2003)

Etymology
Named after the country of origin. (Wilson 2003)

Additional References

 * [[Media:Bruch 1932.pdf|Bruch, C. 1932. Descripción de un género y especie nueva de una hormiga parásita (Formicidae). Rev. Mus. La Plata 33: 271-275 PDF]]

Text and images from this publication used by permission of the author.