Pheidole distorta

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Pheidole distorta
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. distorta
Binomial name
Pheidole distorta
Forel, 1899

Pheidole distorta casent0908309 p 1 high.jpg

Pheidole distorta casent0908309 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Nothing is known about the biology of distorta.

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Known only from Magdalena, northern Colombia. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 11.242° to 11.242°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Colombia (type locality).

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 distorta casent0901583 h 1 high.jpgPheidole distorta casent0901583 p 1 high.jpgPheidole distorta casent0901583 d 1 high.jpgPheidole distorta casent0901583 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Pheidole distortaWorker. Specimen code casent0901583. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.
Pheidole distorta casent0908310 h 1 high.jpgPheidole distorta casent0908310 p 1 high.jpgPheidole distorta casent0908310 d 1 high.jpgPheidole distorta casent0908310 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Pheidole distortaWorker. Specimen code casent0908310. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

  • distorta. Pheidole distorta Forel, 1899c: 74 (footnote) (s.w.) COLOMBIA. Combination in P. (Trachypheidole): Emery, 1915i: 190. See also: Wilson, 2003: 253.

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

Description

From Wilson (2003): A bizarre member of the distorta group, closest to Pheidole monstrosa, Pheidole reclusi and Pheidole scapulata, distinguished from these and other species in the group by the absence of propodeal spines and, in the major, by an extreme bulging, “humpback” promesonotal profile, with the mesonotum descending to the basal propodeal face by a long vertical plane. Also remarkable in the contrast between the heavily sculptured major, with the dorsa of the head and promesonotum rugoreticulum, and the entirely smooth and shiny minor.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Major (Parque Tayrona, Colombia): HW 1.16, HL 1.36, SL 0.56, EL 0.14, PW 0.82. Minor (Parque Tayrona): HW 0.60, HL 0.60, SL 0.56, EL 0.12, PW 0.38.

COLOR Major: body concolorous dark reddish brown except for gaster, which is blackish brown.

Minor: body concolorous medium reddish brown except for gaster, which is blackish brown; mandibles yellow.


Pheidole distorta Wilson 2003.jpg

Figure. Upper: major. Lower: minor. COLOMBIA: Parque Tayrona, Magdalena. (Minor compared with syntype in Forel Collection, Mus. Hist. Nat. Genève.) Scale bars = 1 mm.

Syntype Specimen Labels

Type Material

Santa Marta, Magdalena. Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

L distorta, misshapen, deformed. (Wilson 2003)

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).