Pheidole metana

Winged queens were found in the Bogota-Villavicencio series on 1 May. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
From Wilson (2003): Known from the type locality and from the Bogota-Villavicencio Road, Cundinamarca, 1100 m, col. Charles Kugler.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Colombia, Ecuador.

Nomenclature

 *  metana. Pheidole metana Wilson, 2003: 617, figs. (s.w.) COLOMBIA.

Description
DIAGNOSIS Major and minor: pilosity of mesosomal dorsum short, erect, and consisting mostly of pairs (see also Pheidole angusticeps and Pheidole meinerti).

Major: dorsum of head covered to occipital margin by longitudinal carinulae, which are faint and broken in the posterior half; rest of sculpturing consists solely offoveolation, covering all of the body except the gaster, which is entirely smooth and shiny.

Minor: all of head and me so soma foveolate and opaque; sculpturing otherwise entirely absent except for carinulae on margins of the frontal lobes; head narrowed posteriorly, but nuchal collar absent.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.80, HL 0.80, SL 0.60, EL 0.12, PW 0.40. Paratype minor: HW 0.44, HL 0.52, SL 0.60, EL 0.08, PW 0.28.

COLOR Major and minor: concolorous medium yellow.



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

Type Material
COLOMBIA: Transecto Sumapaz, Meta, 920 m, col. T. van der Hammen.

Etymology
Named after the department of Colombia from which the type series originated.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Mertl, A.L. and J.F.A. Traniello. 2009. Behavioral evolution in the major worker subcaste of twig-nesting Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): does morphological specialization influence task plasticity? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63:1141-1426