Pheidole piceonigra

Longino’s notes (1997) on the distribution and natural history ofindistinct may apply to that species, to piceonigra, or to both. I found a large, undoubted piceonigra colony nesting at the base of an ornamental shrub in a much disturbed San José city park. In Tamaulipas, the Cornell University Mexico Field Party of 1965 encountered it at 1070 m in tall cloud forest. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
I have seen series from Chiapas, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz in Mexico, at 1070–2200 m, and from Costa Rica. On the basis of the types, I am considering this species as different from indistincta, which also occurs in Costa Rica. (Wilson 2003)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Costa Rica, Mexico.

Nomenclature

 * picea. Pheidole picea Mayr, 1870b: 988 (s.w.) MEXICO. [Junior secondary homonym of picea Buckley, above.] Replacement name: piceonigra Emery, 1922e: 109.
 *  piceonigra. Pheidole piceonigra Emery, 1922e: 109. Replacement name for picea Mayr, 1870b: 988. [Junior secondary homonym of Atta picea Buckley, 1967: 344.] See also: Wilson, 2003: 216.

Description
From Wilson (2003): Close to Pheidole indistincta of Costa Rica, considered by Longino (1997) to belong with it in a single, very variable species. The types, however, are very different, with those of piceonigra distinguished as follows.

Major: piceonigra with much less abundant pilosity than indistincta; rugoreticulation between eye and antennal fossa; color much darker (see color below), and head concolorous, not bicolorous as in indistincta; posterior side of head with bands of foveolae; humerus in dorsal-oblique view rounded; apex of postpetiole in side view more rounded.

Minor: occiput and posterior sides of head foveolate, not smooth as in indistincta; much less pilose than indistincta; color much lighter.

If continuous intergrades are demonstrated between the two forms, they may be joined; otherwise it is more prudent to distinguish them as species.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Lectotype major: HW 1.06, HL 1.04, SL 0.76, EL 0.20, PW 0.54. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.62, HL 0.70, SL 0.80, EL 0.14, PW 0.40.

COLOR Major: body dark brown, gaster almost black. Minor: head, mesosoma, and waist dark reddish brown; propodeum and gaster blackish brown; appendages medium brown.



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

Type Material
MEXICO (no further data). , under picea Mayr - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology
L piceonigra, pitch-black plus black. (Wilson 2003)