Pheidole capillata Emery, 2003

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 536

Pheidole capillata Emery , new status

Pheidole gertrudae subsp. capillata Emery 1906c: 151.

Types Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova.

Etymology L capillata , hairy.

diagnosis Close to 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 1.60, 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.

Range Goias and Mato Grosso, Brazil; and Madre de Dios and San Martin, Amazonian Peru.

biology 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.

Figure Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. BRAZIL: Coxipo, Mato Grosso. Scale bar = 1 mm.