Pheidole floridana Emery

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 424

publication ID

20017

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3507790

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/460E2250-6734-06E0-1CE5-11F59271D1F8

treatment provided by

Donat

scientific name

Pheidole floridana Emery
status

 

Pheidole floridana Emery View in CoL   HNS

Pheidole flavens subsp. floridana Emery   HNS 1895d: 293. Raised to species level by Pergande 1896: 883. Syn.: Pheidole lauta Wheeler   HNS 1908h: 470, synonymy by Gregg 1959: 21.

types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard; Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova.

Etymology Named after the state of origin.

Diagnosis Nearly identical with bilimeki   HNS and its Neotropical variants, distinguished as follows.

Major: foveolation on dorsum of head very fine; first gastral tergite smooth and shiny; humerus less prominent in

dorsal-oblique view.

Minor: antennal scapes relatively short, just reaching or barely surpassing the occipital corner; first gastral tergite smooth and shiny, with at most a light shagreening at the base of the tergite.

Both castes are consistently yellow. P. floridana   HNS is very close to bilimeki   HNS , and also to stomachosa   HNS of Jamaica, which coexists on the island with bilimeki   HNS . P. stomachosa   HNS is distinguished from both bilimeki   HNS and floridana   HNS by the head and pronotum of the minor being smooth and shiny (q.v.).

Measurements (mm) Lectotype major: HW 0.92, HL 1.00, SL 0.44, EL 0.10, PW 0.46. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.44, HL 0.52, SL 0.42, EL 0.06, PW 0.30. Color Major and minor: concolorous yellow.

range P. floridana   HNS has been recorded by Stefan Cover (personal communication) from the coastal plain of North Carolina south to the Florida Keys and west to central Texas (Austin and surrounding area), thence south into Mexico.

biology At Bald Point, Franklin Co., Florida, I found colonies nesting at a roadside in open sandy soil; and in Mobile, Alabama (in 1942) what was probably this species nesting beneath a whiskey bottle in a vacant lot. Winged reproductives have been found in nests during September and October. Stefan Cover (personal communication) reports that floridana   HNS "occurs in a variety   HNS of woodland habitats, nests in soil, litter, and rotten wood, and in both xeric and mesic situations. Colonies are monogynous, may contain 1000 or more ants, and are sometimes polydomous. The species is omnivorous, but does not appear to harvest seeds."

Figure Upper: lectotype, major (damaged specimen; pilosity added from a fresh specimen); the upper dorsal-oblique profile of mesosoma is the lectotype, and the lower profde is a major from Sarasota, Florida. Lower: paralectotype, minor (damaged specimen; pilosity added from a fresh specimen). Scale bars = 1 mm.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Formicidae

Genus

Pheidole

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