Pheidole pholeops, Wilson, E. O., 2003

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 487

Pheidole pholeops new species

types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

etymology Gr pholeops , like a hole, or cavity, referring to illusion of a small hole in vertex.

Diagnosis Similar to the species listed in the heading above, differing as follows.

Major: a small depression in the posterior center of the vertex gives an illusion of a hole; posterior dorsal profile of head very feebly concave; promesonotum raised, with two pronotal and one angular mesonotal convexity in dorsal-oblique view; postpetiole diamondshaped; faint antennal scrobes present; almost all of dorsal surface of head carinulate and foveolate; all of mesosoma foveolate, and anterior third of pronotum carinulate.

Minor: eye large and set forward on head; propodeal spines reduced to denticles; all of dorsal surface of head and mesosoma foveolate.

Measurements (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.70, HL 0.76, SL 0.40, EL 0.12, PW 0.34. Paratype minor: HW 0.34, HL 0.36, SL 0.32, EL 0.08, PW 0.22.

Color Major: body light brownish yellow ("bronze"), appendages clear medium yellow.

range Known from the type locality; from the vicinity of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil; and from Yasuni National Park, Puerto Tipugini, Ecuador.

biology Cover and Tobin collected several colonies at the type locality (Cuzco Amazonico, Peru) in terra firme forest and forest transitional between terra firme and seasonally flooded forest, nesting in rotting sticks and logs on the forest floor and (in one case) in the soil.

Figure Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. PERU: Cuzco Amazonico, 15 km northeast of Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios (Stefan Cover and John E. Tobin). Scale bars = 1 mm.