Key to Pheidole diligens group

This worker key is based on:

This large and diverse assemblage, almost exclusively Neotropical in distribution (I have recently seen one still undescribed species from the Patagonia Mountains of southern Arizona), comprises species of medium size, approximately heart-shaped heads, prominent mesonotal convexities, and restricted, mostly nonreticulate sculpturing. The diligens group is contiguous and even overlapping with the fallax group in the variation of these traits taken singly, but in the great majority of cases nest series can be placed in one or the other of the two groups by glancing at the full suite of characters. On the other hand, whether the group is monophyletic or a cluster of convergent subgroups remains to be determined. (One species, Pheidole riveti'' of Ecuador, cannot be keyed precisely here because the antennae of the lectotype are missing; check this species directly at decision points as noted in the key.)

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 * Pheidole
 * "New World Pheidole" Wilson 2003

1

 * Propodeal spine greatly broadened and shortened or lacking altogether in the major and usually in the minor also; rather, the basal and descending faces of the propodeum viewed from the side come together to form a low, obtuse, or right angle . . . . . 2


 * Propodeal spine present in major and minor, at least in the form of a denticle or small, raised acute angle . . . . . 10