Pheidole tisiphone

Nothing is known about the biology of tisiphone.

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Known only from two workers and one soldier from Oaxaca, Mexico, and one soldier from Guatemala.

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

Nomenclature

 *  tisiphone. Pheidole tisiphone Wheeler, W.M. 1911h: 203 (s.) MEXICO. Combination in P. (Elasmopheidole): Emery, 1915i: 190. See also: Wilson, 2003: 632.

Description
From Wilson (2003): DIAGNOSIS A large member of the scrobifera group, with a bizarre major instantly recognizable by shield-shaped head in full-face view, with the frontal lobes expanded laterally to touch the lateral margins of the head at the level of the eyes and behind it and extended anteriorly almost to touch the anterior clypeal border; by the very dense, long hairs covering the entire head, with those around the region of the eye curving posteriorly; and by the deep, narrow antennal scrobes. The mesonotum is rugoreticulate in the Guatemalan specimen, and mostly carinulate in the unique holotype, but otherwise the two specimens are very close.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.80, HL 2.16, SL 0.76, EL 0.20, PW 1.00.

COLOR Major: body light reddish brown, appendages light reddish to yellowish brown.



'''Figure. Major. GUATEMALA: San Jose (E. S. Ross, in Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard). Compared with holotype. Scale bars = 1 mm.'''

Type Material
Almoloya, Oaxaca, Mexico, col. Frederick Knab. - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology
Tisiphone, Avenger of Murders, one of the Furies of Greek mythology. (Wilson 2003)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
 * Fernandes, P.R. XXXX. Los hormigas del suelo en Mexico: Diversidad, distribucion e importancia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
 * Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
 * 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