Pheidole monteverdensis

According to Longino (1997), monteverdensis is a dominant ant in cloud-forest leaf litter, but drops out abruptly below 900 m. Nests have been found in pieces of rotting wood in the leaf litter, and one in the clasping petiole of a non-myrmecophytic Piper. A seed cache was discovered in the latter nest. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Cloud forest in Costa Rica, 1200–1600 m (Longino 1997).

This taxon was described from Costa Rica.

Description
DIAGNOSIS Similar in various traits to Pheidole albipes, Pheidole alticola, Pheidole browni, Pheidole chalca, Pheidole hedlundorum, Pheidole euryscopa [[Pheidole, Pheidole lustrata, Pheidole palenquensis and Pheidole servilia'', and distinguished as follows.

Major: dark brown; eye broadly oval and set well forward on head; posterior dorsal profile of head flat; humerus in dorsal-oblique view lobose; propodeal spines moderately long and slender; postpetiole from above elliptical; almost all of dorsal head surface except occiput, frontal triangle, and midclypeus carinulate; carinulae originating on frontal lobes curve inward slightly, toward midline. Minor: dark brown; eye large, elliptical; pilosity sparse; in dorsal-oblique view humerus and mesonotal convexity subangulate; head mostly foveolate, and promesonotum smooth and shiny.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.78, HL 0.94, SL 0.42, EL 0.14, PW 0.40. Paratype minor: HW 0.46, HL 0.50, SL 0.40, EL 0.14, PW 0.28.

COLOR Major: body, mandibles, and scapes dark brown; funiculus and legs medium brown. Minor: body mostly dark brown; anterior one-fourth of head capsule, and appendages, medium brown.



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

Type Locality Information
COSTA RICA: Monteverde, 1400 m, col. Stefan Cover.

Etymology
Named after the type locality, a famous mountain reserve in Costa Rica.