Pheidole vafra

The very wide distribution of the species suggests that vafra may be carried by human commerce. In any case, it inhabits marginal habitats. I found nests common in sandy soil at two localities along the southern coast of Tobago, where it coexists with the very widespread marginal-habitat specialist Pheidole jelskii. Near the Nariva Swamp of Trinidad, Stefan Cover found a colony at the border between a coconut grove and mangrove swamp, nesting under a fallen coconut leaf in sand; and a second colony at 550 m in Trinidad’s Arima Valley, nesting in the hard-packed clay of a road running through a small coffee plantation. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
This hitherto obscure species turns out to be one of the most widespread of all New World Pheidole. Its records, most of which I have been able to verify, include Nicaragua, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, French Guiana, Amazonian Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. (Wilson 2003)

This taxon was described from Brazil.

Nomenclature

 * idiota. Pheidole idiota Santschi, 1923d: 53 (s.w.q.) ARGENTINA. Subspecies of vafra: Santschi, 1929d: 284. Material of the unavailable name maculifrons referred here by Brown, 1981: 526. Junior synonym of vafra: Wilson, 2003: 244.
 *  vafra. Pheidole vafra Santschi, 1923d: 51 (s.w.) BRAZIL. Senior synonymy of idiota: Wilson, 2003: 244.

Description
From Wilson (2003): A small, brown member of the diligens group, whose major has a faintly bicolorous head; smooth anterior third of the head dorsal surface; abundant medium-length pilosity; relatively short antennal scapes, which are curved near their base; and equilaterally triangular postpetiolar spine in side view.

Close to Pheidole blumenauensis, Pheidole perryorum and Pheidole rochai, but major differing in its shorter scapes, eyes larger than in rochai (but not in blumenauensis) and other details of body form and sculpturing in both major and minor, as illustrated.

See also less similar Pheidole laevifrons, Pheidole lemur, Pheidole peregrina, Pheidole pubiventris and Pheidole seeldrayersi.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Lectotype major: HW 0.96, HL 1.04, SL 0.74, EL 0.20, PW 0.54. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.52, HL 0.64, SL 0.74, EL 0.14, PW 0.36.

COLOR Major: gaster medium brown, rest of body light brown except for anterior one-fourth of head capsule, which is a slightly contrasting brownish yellow.

Minor: concolorous medium brown.



'''Figure. Upper: lectotype, major. BRAZIL: Blumenau, Santa Catarina. (Outer antennal scape is from near Nariva Swamp, Trinidad.) Lower: minor. TRINIDAD: near Nariva Swamp (compared with paralectotype minor). Scale bars = 1 mm.'''

Type Material
- as reported in Wilson (2003)

Type Locality Information
BRAZIL: Blumenau, Santa Catarina. (Wilson 2003)

Etymology
L vafra, artful, craftful, allusion unknown. (Wilson 2003)

Additional References
Santschi, F. 1923d. Pheidole et quelques autres fourmis néotropiques. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 63: 45–69.

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