Pheidole tarchon

The type colony was collected in alder woods in a ravine; a winged queen was in the nest on 30 January. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Only known from the type locality.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Argentina.

Nomenclature

 *  tarchon. Pheidole tarchon Wilson, 2003: 517, figs. (s.w.) ARGENTINA.

Description
DIAGNOSIS Similar to Pheidole tetrica and Pheidole victima, distinguished as follows.

Major: brownish yellow; head covered by carinulae, except for occiput, the frontal triangle, strip behind the frontal triangle, and midclypeus; dorsal profile of promesonotum flat, dropping steeply to metanotum through a posterior face; head quadrate, Head Width equaling Head Length, antennal scape long, its tip touching the side of the head in full-face view two-thirds from eye to occipital corner; petiolar node in side view thick, with broad, semicircular apex; postpetiole from above bell-shaped; anterior fringe of pronotal dorsum carinulate, and mesosoma otherwise completely smooth and shiny. Minor: promesonotal profile in side view flat; body almost completely smooth and shiny; antennal scape long; occiput moderately narrowed in full-face view but lacking nuchal collar.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.22, HL 1.22, SL 0.82, EL 0.18, PW 0.52. Paratype minor: HW 0.68, HL 0.72, SL 0.66, EL 0.14, PW 0.40.

COLOR Major and minor: concolorous brownish yellow.



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

Type Material
ARGENTINA: 3 km northeast of Tafí del Valle, Tucumán, about 2200 m, col. W. L. Brown.

Etymology
Named after Tarchon, founder of Tarquinii and the Etruscan dodecapolis.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Wilson E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, [ix] + 794 pp.