Pheidole cockerelli Wheeler

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 277

Pheidole cockerelli Wheeler

Pheidole cockerelli Wheeler 1908h: 464.

Types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

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

Diagnosis 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 acamata , cielana , and sciara , as well as the other species listed in the heading, 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.

Range Oklahoma, Colorado, western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona.

Biology 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.

Figure Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. NEW MEXICO: Arroyo Pecos, Las Vegas (T. D. A. Cockerell and W. M. Wheeler). Scale bars = 1 mm.