Pheidole roushae

The type series was collected in a shaded cafetal, a tropical forest with planted coffee. (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: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico.

Worker
Minor

Nomenclature

 *  roushae. Pheidole roushae Wilson, 2003: 344, figs. (s.w.) MEXICO.

Description
A member of the fallax group, very distinct but with some similarities to Pheidole fallax, Pheidole jelskii, Pheidole obscurithorax, Pheidole puttemansi and Pheidole valens, recognizable as follows.

Major: reddish yellow; head quadrate; antennal scape very long, slightly surpassing occipital lobe in repose; frontal lobes rugoreticulate; all of space between eyes, circular carinulae of antennal fossae and anterior genal margins rugoreticulate; posterior half of head foveolate and opaque, with scattered, short, irregular rugulae scattered over the dorsal surface of the occipital lobes; petiolar node very thick in side view, its apex broadly rounded; anterior fourth of middle strip of first gastral tergite shagreened.

Minor: eye large and set well forward, its anterior margin only slightly more distant from the anterior clypeal margin than Eye Length; entire head, mesosoma, and waist foveolate; petiolar node in side view thick, its apex broadly rounded.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.14, HL 1.20, SL 1.04, EL 0.20, PW 0.60. Paratype minor: HW 0.60, HL 0.78, SL 1.04, EL 0.16, PW 0.44.

COLOR Major: reddish yellow (“orange”).

Minor: concolorous medium yellow.



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

Type Material
MEXICO: Sierra Teoviscocla, near Cuichapa, Veracruz, 1600 m, col. Cornell University Mexico Field Party, 1965.

Etymology
Named in honor of Sal Roush, in recognition of her outstanding contribution in service and support to tropical conservation, hence the habitats in which the Pheidole ants will continue to survive.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
 * Longino J. T. L., and M. G. Branstetter. 2018. The truncated bell: an enigmatic but pervasive elevational diversity pattern in Middle American ants. Ecography 41: 1-12.
 * Smith M. A., W. Hallwachs, D. H. Janzen. 2014. Diversity and phylogenetic community structure of ants along a Costa Rican elevational gradient. Ecography 37(8): 720-731.
 * Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
 * Wilson, E.O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Genus. Harvard University Press