Pheidole capillata

At Cuzco Amazonico, near Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, Peru, Stefan Cover and John Tobin found a population of capillata colonies in a grassy clearing on the Madre de Dios River. The nests were in heavy clay, and the workers were observed foraging on cloudy days and at dawn and dusk. The species was absent from the adjacent rainforest. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Goias and Mato Grosso, Brazil; and Madre de Dios and San Martin, Amazonian Peru. (Wilson 2003)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil, Peru.

Worker
Minor

Images from AntWeb
Major

Nomenclature

 *  capillata. Pheidole gertrudae subsp. capillata Emery, 1906c: 151 (s.w.) BRAZIL. Raised to species: Wilson, 2003: 536.

Description
From Wilson (2003): DIAGNOSIS Close to Pheidole gertrudae (q.v.), and possibly synonymous with it, but differing in the following combination of traits.

Major: propodeal spines present but only as short, thick denticles; frontal lobes covered by longitudinal carinulae; and thinner petiolar node in side view.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Lectotype major: HW 1.56, HL l.60, SL 0.84, EL 0.22, PW 0.74. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.64, HL 0.70, SL 0.78, EL 0.14, PW 0.42.

COLOR Major: body mostly light yellowish brown with a slight reddish tint; gaster medium yellowish brown with reddish tint to plain medium brown.



'''Figure. Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.'''

Type Material
BRAZIL: Coxipo, Mato Grosso. - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology
L capillata, hairy. (Wilson 2003)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bezdeckova K., P. Bedecka, and I. Machar. 2015. A checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Peru. Zootaxa 4020 (1): 101–133.
 * Emery C. 1906. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XXVI. Bullettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 37: 107-194.
 * Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
 * Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
 * Tavares A. A., P. C. Bispo, and A. C. Zanzini. 2008. Effect of Collect Time on Communities of Epigaeic Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Areas of Eucalyptus cloeziana and Cerrado. Neotropical Entomology 37(2): 126-130.
 * da Silva de Oliveira A. B., and F. A. Schmidt. 2019. Ant assemblages of Brazil nut trees Bertholletia excelsa in forest and pasture habitats in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon. Biodiversity and Conservation 28(2): 329-344.