Pheidole cursor, Wilson, E. O., 2003

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 281

Pheidole cursor new species

Types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

Etymology L cursor , runner.

Diagnosis A very distinctive member of the fallax group recognizable by the following traits.

Major: posterior third of dorsal head profile lined with a dense carpet of very short, suberect hairs of about equal length; the occipital margin in full-face view lined with similar, subrecumbent hairs; a similar layer of short subrecumbent hairs lines the ventral profile of the first gastral sternite; nadir of occipital cleft deep; rugoreticulum on each side of head extends from eye to antennal fossa and frontal carina; humerus in dorsal-oblique view prominent above rest of pronotum; postpetiole seen from above diamond-shaped. Minor: bicolored (see below); propodeal spine reduced to denticle; occiput constricted to a neck, with very broad nuchal collar. Measurements (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.50, HL 1.56, SL 1.00, EL 0.22, PW 0.68. Paratype minor: HW 0.54, HL 0.74, SL 1.02, EL 0.16, PW 0.38. color Major: body and mandibles light reddish brown, legs reddish yellow.

Minor: bicolorous, with head medium brown, mesosoma light brown, and gaster and appendages dark yellow.

Range In addition to the types and numerous other series from Cuzco Amazonico, I have seen collections from Benjamin Constant, and Iraboca, near Belem, Amazonian Brazil (W. L. Brown).

Biology According to Stefan Cover (personal communication), cursor was common in both terra firme and seasonally flooded rainforest at Cuzco Amazonico, Peru, nesting in both small and large pieces of rotten wood on the forest floor. Colonies were monogynous and relatively small, containing fewer than 300 workers. The workers were predaceous, and no seed caches or other evidences of seed harvesting were found.

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.