Pheidole amabilis, Wilson, E. O., 2003

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 369

Pheidole amabilis new species

Types INBio.

Etymology L amabilis , lovely.

Diagnosis A medium-sized, concolorous yellow species whose major is distinguished by the slightly concave profile of the posterior half of the head capsule; also possessing a carpet of dense, evenly short, forward-projecting, subdecumbent (45A°-angled from surface) hairs on the posterior half of the head and occiput; weak but distinct mesonotal convexity; and short, nearly vertical propodeal spines.

Similar to angulifera , boliviana , crinita , melastomae , mixteca , scitula , terresi , and tysoni , but readily distinguished by the above traits as well as by various differences in sculpture and color.

Measurements (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.94, HL 1.14, SL 0.52, EL 0.14, PW 0.48.

Paratype minor: HW 0.60, HL 0.66, SL 0.60, EL 0.14, PW 0.36.

color Major: concolorous medium yellow.

Minor: gaster dark yellow, rest of body medium yellow.

Range Reported by John T. Longino (1997) from the Atlantic slope of Costa Rica to 1100 m.

Biology According to Longino (1997), amabilis occurs in wet forest. Nests have been found in Cecropia sapling internodes, in foliar pouches of a myrmecophytic melastome, and in a dead stick in leaf litter. The colony in the dead stick was separated from a colony of Pheidole scrobifera by a plug of woody frass; fighting between the two species ensued when the plug was removed.

figure Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. COSTA RICA: Rio Penas Blancas, Alajuela, WWN 84A°42 W, 800 m (J. T. Longino). Scale bars = 1 mm.