Pheidole nigricula

This tiny species inhabits mature rainforest where it nests in rotten hollow twigs in leaf litter on the forest floor. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Atlantic lowlands to 800 m in Costa Rica (Longino 1997).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua.

Worker
Minor

Nomenclature

 *  nigricula. Pheidole nigricula Wilson, 2003: 472, figs. (s.w.) COSTA RICA.

Description
DIAGNOSIS Similar in various traits to Pheidole exquisita, Pheidole nitella, Pheidole pygmaeaand Pheidole sagittaria, differing as follows.

Major: blackish brown; very small; head elongate; frontal triangle not demarcated; eyes placed well forward on head; humerus low and lobate; propodeal spines equilaterally triangular; postpetiole from above elliptical; dorsal surface of head, including occiput but not midclypeus, foveolate; mesosoma almost entirely smooth and shiny.

Minor: carinulae limited to antennal fossae; all of head and mesosoma smooth and shiny; propodeal spines moderately long, and thin; occiput broad, its margin weakly concave, and lacking nuchal collar.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.56, HL 0.70, SL 0.26, EL 0.10, PW 0.34. Paratype minor: HW 0.34, HL 0.40, SL 0.30, EL 0.06, PW 0.24.

COLOR Major: concolorous blackish brown, appendages medium brown. Minor: sides of mesosoma medium to dark reddish brown; rest of body, and appendages, dark, almost blackish brown.



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

Type Material
COSTA RICA: La Selva Biological Station, near Puerto Viejo, Heredia, col. Stefan Cover.

Etymology
L nigricula, little dark one.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
 * LaPolla, J.S. and S.P. Cover. 2005. New species of Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Guyana, with a list of species known from the country. Tranactions of the American Entomological Society 131(3-4):365-374
 * Lapolla, J. S., and S. P. Cover. "New species of Pheidole (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) from Guyana, with a list of species known from the country." Transactions of the American Entomological Society 131, no. 3-4 (2005): 365-374.
 * Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Nicargua. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-nicaragua
 * 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.
 * Longino J. T., and R. K. Colwell. 2011. Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2(3): 16pp.