Pheidole nubicola

This species occurs in transitional tropical-temperate cloud forest. One colony collected at Rancho Cielo by P. S. Ward was in a rotten log. Another I found on Mt. Orizaba was under a large rock in hardwood forest dominated by Liquidambar and Carpinus, with a Cyathea-melastome understory. Winged queens were present in a nest at Rancho Cielo on 23 July. A male was present in the nest on 26 May. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
From Wilson (2003): Known from the type locality, and from the La Perla-Rancho Somecla road on Mt. Orizaba, Veracruz, 1800–2000 m (E. O. Wilson).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Nomenclature

 *  nubicola. Pheidole nubicola Wilson, 2003: 329, figs. (s.w.) MEXICO.
 * cielana. Pheidole cielana Wilson, 2003: 275, figs. (s.w.) MEXICO.
 * Junior synonym of nubicola: Longino, 2019: 51.
 * petrensis. Pheidole petrensis Wilson, 2003: 337, figs. (s.w.) MEXICO.
 * Junior synonym of nubicola: Longino, 2019: 51.

Description
A member of the fallax group similar to Pheidole cielana of Mexico and Pheidole inca of Peru, distinguished as follows.

Major: frontal lobes, sides of head, most of vertex, and pronotal dorsum rugoreticulate; median ocellus present; antennal scape attains occipital border; head bicolored (see Color below).

Minor: all of head, mesosoma, and waist foveolate and opaque; pronotal dorsum rugoreticulate; midclypeus with scattered short rugulae; occiput strongly constricted but lacks nuchal collar.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.18, HL 1.20, SL 0.96, EL 0.20, PW 0.62. Paratype minor: HW 0.64, HL 0.74, SL 0.94, EL 0.16, PW 0.42.

COLOR Major: body medium brown; head bicolored, with anterior fourth dark yellow (except for clypeus and frontal triangle, which are medium brown); appendages dark yellow.

Pheidole cielana

A member of the fallax group distinguished by the following combination of traits.

Major: medium-sized; reddish brown; median ocellus present; entire body covered by dense, erect to suberect hairs; scape approaches the occipital corner by less than its own width; extensive rugoreticula occur around the eyes and on the frontal lobes; anterior half of pronotal dorsum and all of mesonotal dorsum rugoreticulate.

Minor: all of head, mesosoma, and waist foveolate and opaque, and anterior half of median strip of first gastral tergite shagreened and opaque.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.14, HL 1.22, SL 0.96, EL 0.20, PW 0.60. Paratype minor: HW 0.64, HL 0.74, SL 0.96, EL 0.16, PW 0.44.

COLOR Major: body and most of head medium reddish brown, appendages and sides of head anterior to eye light reddish brown.

Minor: overall medium reddish brown, tarsi yellow.

Pheidole petrensis

A member of the fallax group similar to Pheidole haskinsorum, Pheidole hector, Pheidole lattkei and Pheidole susannae, distinguished as follows.

Major: head subrectangular in full-face view; tip of antennal scape just reaches occipital corner; almost entire head, mesosoma, and waist foveolate and opaque; entire central strip of all the gastral tergites shagreened and opaque; rugoreticulum limited to space between eye and antennal fossa; carinulae limited mostly to anterior half of head, absent from rest of body; propodeal spines moderately long and thin.

Minor: propodeal spines long, very thin, needle-like; head capsule in full-face view forms almost perfect oval; nuchal collar present; entire head and body foveolate and opaque; entire central strip of first gastral tergite shagreened and opaque to subopaque.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.16, HL 1.26, SL 1.02, EL 0.22, PW 0.62. Paratype minor: HW 0.68, HL 0.84, SL 1.06, EL 0.20, PW 0.46.

COLOR Major: body and appendages medium to dark brown; a darker brown circular spot is present on vertex.

Minor: body concolorous light brown.



'Pheidole nubicola''. Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.'''



'Pheidole cielana''. Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.'''



'Pheidole petrensis''. Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.'''

Type Material
MEXICO: Rancho del Cielo, Sierra de Guatemala, Tamaulipas, 1070 m, col. Cornell University Expedition group, 1965.

Pheidole cielana: MEXICO: Rancho Cielo, 17 km northwest of Gomez Farias, Tamaulipas, 1160 m, col. Philip S. Ward.

Pheidole petrensis: MEXICO: 24 km west of Cuernavaca, Morelos, 2200 m, col. William P. MacKay.

Etymology
L nubicola, cloud-dweller, referring to the mountain habitat of the type colony.

Pheidole cielana: Named after the type locality.

Pheidole petrensis: Gr L petrensis, at a stone, alluding to the microhabitat of the type colony.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Castano-Meneses, G., M. Vasquez-Bolanos, J. L. Navarrete-Heredia, G. A. Quiroz-Rocha, and I. Alcala-Martinez. 2015. Avances de Formicidae de Mexico. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
 * Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
 * Longino J. T. 2019. Pheidole (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Middle American wet forest. Zootaxa 4599: 1-126
 * Varela-Hernandez, F., M. Rocha-Ortega, W. P. Mackay, and R. W. Jones. 2016. Lista preliminar de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del estado de Queretaro, Mexico. Pages 429-435 in . W. Jones., and V. Serrano-Cardenas, editors. Historia Natural de Queretaro. Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Mexico.
 * Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
 * Wilson, E.O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Genus. Harvard University Press