Pheidole punctatissima

Pheidole punctatissima Mayr

Pheidole punctatissima Mayr 1870a: 400. Syn.: Pheidole punctatissima subsp. napaea Wheeler 1934g: 165, synonomy by Brown 1981: 525.

Types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

Etymology L punctatissima, very dotted with punctures, probably referring to the nearly complete foveolate sculpturing of the body.

diagnosis One of the most instantly recognizable of all Pheidole species: the major has a yellowish white posterior two-thirds of the head capsule (fading to pale yellow in older specimens) that contrasts sharply with the medium to dark brown remainder of the body; the major also is distinguished within the punctatissima group by the large area of rugoreticulation mesad to the eyes (see also inca) and the very prominent cornulate pronotal humerus and entire surface of the body foveolate and opaque. Minor: no carinulae on entire body, but all of the body parts except the second and succeeding segments of the gaster are foveolate and opaque.

Measurements (mm) Major (Pueblo Nuevo, Mexico): HW 0.92, HL 0.92, SL 0.54, EL 0.14, PW 0.44. Minor (Pueblo Nuevo, Mexico): HW 0.44, HL 0.54, SL 0.50, EL 0.10, PW 0.24.

Color Major: bicolorous, with posterior two-thirds of head surface, together with the lateral wings of the clypeus, yellowish white (fading to pale yellow in old specimens) and all the remainder of the body a sharply contrasting medium to dark brown; the first gastral tergite has bluish reflections; and the appendages exclusive of the mandibles are yellow. Minor: body concolorous medium brown, appendages except for mandibles brownish yellow.

Range Tropical southern Mexico to Colombia. Literature records of the species from the West Indies are in error; they are based on the related species P. bilimeki (= annectens), q.v.

biology J. T. Longino (1997) on punctatissima in Costa Rica: "This species thrives in disturbed areas, and it is often a pest ant. Nests are often in ephemeral cavities; soft rotten sticks, beneath bark flaps, in debris in forks of trees, etc." In Mexico winged reproductives have been found in nests during April and July.

Figure Upper: major. Lower: minor. MEXICO: Pueblo Nuevo, near Tetzonapa, Veracruz (E. O. Wilson). (Type locality: Mexico; Edward Norton.) Scale bars = 1 mm.