Pheidole cockerelli

In Colorado, Gregg (1963) found cockerelli nesting at 1700–1900 m, under rocks in the clayey soil of short-grass prairie. Creighton (1950a) lists it as a desert ant in Arizona and New Mexico. Stefan Cover (personal communication) found it in the Chiricahua, Huachuca, and Santa Maria Mts. of Arizona at 1460–1740 m nesting in open soil and grass clumps variously in desert grassland, grazed grasslands with scattered oak, and juniper-oak creek-valley woodland. In western Texas, O. F. Francke encountered cockerelli in a nest in the open soil of mesquite-creosote-cactus scrubland (Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard series). Winged reproductives were present in Arizona nests from late June to mid-July. (Wilson 2003)

Identification
See the description in the nomenclature section.

Distribution
Oklahoma, Colorado, western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona. (Wilson 2003)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States. Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Nomenclature

 *  cockerelli. Pheidole cockerelli Wheeler, W.M. 1908e: 464 (s.w.) U.S.A. See also: Wilson, 2003: 277.

Description
From Wilson (2003): A member of the fallax group distinguished by the following combination of traits.

Major: light reddish brown; a rugoreticulum extends from around the anterior and posterior margins of each eye mesad to the circular carinulae of the antennal fossa; longitudinal carinulae densely covering the frontal lobes extend posteriorly to the occipital border; anterior half of pronotal dorsum and posterior half of the mesonotum transversely carinulate; all of the head, mesosoma, and waist foveolate and opaque to subopaque except the dorsum of the petiole, which, with the gaster, is smooth and shiny.

Minor: all of the head and mesosoma foveolate and opaque; dorsum of the waist and all of the gaster smooth and shiny; occiput narrowed, with a thin collar.

Similar to Pheidole acamata, Pheidole nubicola and Pheidole sciara, as well as Pheidole acamata, Pheidole dione, Pheidole gulo, Pheidole hyatti, Pheidole midas, Pheidole potosiana and Pheidole sciara, differing in many details in the above characters and others as illustrated. Most likely to be confused with sciara, a less common species that occurs through much of the range of cockerelli.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Lectotype major: HW 1.38, HL 1.50, SL 1.02, EL 0.24, PW 0.74. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.62, HL 0.78, SL 0.90, EL 0.18, PW 0.44.

COLOR Major: concolorous light reddish brown, except rear half of gaster, which is a contrasting medium brown.

Minor: concolorous yellowish brown.



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

Type Material
From Wilson (2003): NEW MEXICO: Arroyo Pecos, Las Vegas (T. D. A. Cockerell and W. M. Wheeler). - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology
Named after the American entomologist and co-collector of the type series T. D. A. Cockerell. (Wilson 2003)