Pheidole astur

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Pheidole astur
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. astur
Binomial name
Pheidole astur
Wilson, 2003

MCZ Pheidole astur hal2.jpg

MCZ Pheidole astur had1 6.jpg

Specimen Label


This large species occurs in lowland rainforest over a wide part of South America. At Cuzco Amazónico, near Puerto Maldonado, Peru, Stefan Cover (unpublished collection notes) reports colonies nesting in soil, and minors foraging on the surface of soil and leaf litter. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

I have examined material of astur from French Guiana, Suriname, and Colombia, as well as Amazonian Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 4.71667° to -12.497473°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru (type locality), Suriname.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Castes

Worker

Minor

Images from AntWeb

Pheidole astur casent0625434 h 1 high.jpgPheidole astur casent0625434 p 1 high.jpgPheidole astur casent0625434 d 1 high.jpgPheidole astur casent0625434 p 4 high.jpgPheidole astur casent0625434 l 1 high.jpg
Paratype Pheidole asturWorker. Specimen code casent0625434. Photographer Jeremy Pilllow, uploaded by University of Utah. Owned by MCZC.

Major

Images from AntWeb

Pheidole astur jtlc000016324 p 4 high.jpg
Paratype Pheidole asturWorker (major/soldier). Specimen code jtlc000016324. Photographer Jeremy Pilllow, uploaded by University of Utah. Owned by MCZC.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • astur. Pheidole astur Wilson, 2003: 268, figs. (s.w.) PERU.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

A member of a complex of Pheidole species with giant majors covered by short, bristly hair, in the larger fallax group, comprising Pheidole astur, Pheidole oxyops, Pheidole praeusta and Pheidole trageri. P. astur is distinguished among them by the following combination of traits.

Major: a patch of rugoreticulum present laterad to each antennal fossa; longitudinal carinulae immediately next to the dorsal midline of head reaches the occipital border, but the occipital lobes are smooth and shiny; postpetiolar node seen from above elliptical in shape, with subangular lateral margins; small subpostpetiolar process present.

Minor: occiput narrowed to form a distinct neck, followed by a broad nuchal collar; pronotum entirely smooth and shiny.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 2.34, HL 2.66, SL 1.20, EL 0.30, PW 1.10. Paratype minor: HW 0.68, HL 1.04, SL 1.42, EL 0.20, PW 0.50.

COLOR Major: body and mandibles reddish brown, legs and antennae a lighter shade of reddish brown.

Minor: concolorous yellow.

Pheidole astur Wilson 2003.jpg

Figure. Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Paratype Specimen Labels

Type Material

PERU: Cuzco Amazónico, 15 km northeast of Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, col. Stefan Cover and John E. Tobin. Museum of Comparative Zoology

Etymology

L astur, hawk.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Fichaux M., B. Bechade, J. Donald, A. Weyna, J. H. C. Delabie, J. Murienne, C. Baraloto, and J. Orivel. 2019. Habitats shape taxonomic and functional composition of Neotropical ant assemblages. Oecologia 189(2): 501-513.
  • Franco W., N. Ladino, J. H. C. Delabie, A. Dejean, J. Orivel, M. Fichaux, S. Groc, M. Leponce, and R. M. Feitosa. 2019. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa 4674(5): 509-543.
  • Groc S., J. H. C. Delabie, F. Fernandez, M. Leponce, J. Orivel, R. Silvestre, Heraldo L. Vasconcelos, and A. Dejean. 2013. Leaf-litter ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a pristine Guianese rainforest: stable functional structure versus high species turnover. Myrmecological News 19: 43-51.
  • Mertl A. L., J. F. A. Traniello, K. Ryder Wilkie, and R. Constantino. 2012. Associations of two ecologically significant social insect taxa in the litter of an amazonian rainforest: is there a relationship between ant and termite species richness? Psyche doi:10.1155/2012/312054
  • Ryder Wilkie K.T., A. L. Mertl, and J. F. A. Traniello. 2010. Species Diversity and Distribution Patterns of the Ants of Amazonian Ecuador. PLoS ONE 5(10): e13146.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013146