Pheidole tolteca

The Cuautla workers were in a house, and those collected in San Jose Purua, Michoacán, were collected in tropical scrub. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Recorded from Cuernavaca, Morelos (type locality); Cuautla, Morelos; San Jose Purua, Michoacán, col. Robert J. Hamton; and 95 km north of Acapulco, Guerrero. (Wilson 2003)

This taxon was described from Mexico.

Nomenclature

 *  tolteca. Pheidole tolteca Forel, 1901c: 133 (w.) MEXICO. See also: Wilson, 2003: 357.

Description
From Wilson (2003): A large, completely foveolate and opaque member of the fallax group, somewhat similar to Pheidole aequiseta and Pheidole gouldi.

Major: antennal scape just attains occipital corner; pilosity of head and mesosoma short, erect to suberect, and mostly of same length; propodeal spines long and relatively thin; rugoreticulum forms a band from eye to eye, anterior to near anterior border of head, and onto frontal lobes; center of pronotal dorsum with broken, scattered rugulae; humerus prominent, subangular; postpetiole from above elliptical.

Minor: body completely foveolate; propodeal spines one-third as long as the basal propodeal face anterior to them, and thin; occiput narrow and with nuchal collar.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Major (Michoacán, Mexico): HW 1.72, HL 1.82, SL 1.44, EL 0.30, PW 0.88. Syntype minor: HW 0.86, HL 1.06, SL 1.40, EL 0.22, PW 0.62.

COLOR Major: head and appendages light reddish brown, rest of body medium reddish brown.

Minor: concolorous medium dull brown except for anterior rim of head capsule and mandibles, which are yellowish brown.



'''Figure. Upper: major, with minor compared with syntype minor (San Jose Purua, Michoacán, Mexico, col. R. J. Hamton). Lower: syntype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.'''

Type Material
and  - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Type Locality Information
Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, col. W. M. Wheeler.

Etymology
Named after the Toltec, Amerindian ruling people of central Mexico from 10th to 12th century A.D. (Wilson 2003)

Additional References
Forel, A. 1901. 1, Fourmis mexicaines récoltées par M. le professeur W.-M. Wheeler; 2, A propos de la classification des fourmis. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 45: 123–141.

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