Pheidole colobopsis

A Peruvian colony was collected in clay soil at the base of a tree in terra firme rainforest. The nest was 12 cm deep and contained a single queen, five majors, and about 200 minors. The majors and minors in this series are a nearly uniform dark yellow to amber color. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Southern Mexico and south through Central America, plus roughly the northern half of South American (known from Venezuela, Columbia, Brazil and Peru).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela.

Nomenclature

 *  colobopsis. Pheidole (Pheidole) colobopsis Mann, 1916: 439, pl. 3, figs. 25, 26 (q.) BRAZIL. Combination in P. (Scrobopheidole): Emery, 1922e: 112. See also: Wilson, 2003: 545.

Description
From Wilson (2003): DIAGNOSIS A typical member of the lamia group: the major has a phragmotic head, with the anterior portion incorporating the clypeus and mandibles flattened (truncated), and deep antennal scrobes. This species is easily distinguished from the other members of the lamia group (Pheidole lamia, Pheidole pelor, Pheidole truncula) by the shorter head of the major and the pattern of carinulae on its head: limited to dense longitudinal rows on the frontal lobes and frontal triangle and transverse rows on the lateral wings of the clypeus. Other differences in body form and sculpturing are as illustrated. The queen is also phragmotic.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Major (Rio Porce, Colombia): HW l.08, HL l.20, SL 0.54, EL 0.l4, PW 0.60. Minor (Rio Porce, Colombia): HW 0.52, HL 0.54, SL 0.52, EL 0.06, PW 0.32.

COLOR Major: mostly light reddish brown; appendages, the truncated front of the head, and a narrow horizontal strip posterior to the eyes dark yellow.

Minor: body and scapes medium reddish brown, other appendages yellowish brown.



'''Figure. Upper: major. Lower: minor. COLOMBIA: Rio Porce, near Medellin, 1020 m, col. Neal A. Weber. Scale bars = 1 mm.'''

Type Material
- as reported in Wilson (2003)

Type Locality Information
Rondonia Mamore railway track, Km 306, Rondonia, Brazil. (Wilson 2003)

Etymology
Gr colobopsis, docked, clipped, shortened, with reference to the truncated head of the major. (Wilson 2003)

Additional References
Mann, W. M. 1916. The Stanford Expedition to Brazil, 1911, John C. Branner, Director: The ants of Brazil. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 60: 399–490.

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