Pheidole porcula

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Pheidole porcula
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. porcula
Binomial name
Pheidole porcula
Wheeler, W.M., 1908

Pheidole porcula casent0104784 profile 1.jpg

Pheidole porcula casent0104784 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen Label

Near San Angelo, Texas, Stefan Cover (unpublished notes) found a nest in a grassy flat, in clayey soil beneath a rock. Moody and Francke (1982) found numerous colonies in western Texas at 100–1700 m, nesting variously under stones, logs, cow dung, and under wood and fragments of metal, as well as in open soil. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

The form of the scape easily separates this species from most of the others. It is wide near the base, and flattened or even concave on the upper surface. The scape progressively narrows towards the apex. The scapes of the major extend about two-thirds the length of the head. The posterior lateral lobes are usually moderately smooth and shining, but they are occasionally punctate. The propodeal spines are small, but well formed. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Also see the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Chisos Mts. of the Big Bend of southwestern Texas to the vicinity of Abilene and San Angelo, central Texas; probably also occurs in upland Chihuahua. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 34.156971° to 20.455001°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (type locality).
Neotropical Region: Mexico.

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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Habitat

Cypress and oak forests, grasslands, up to 1450 meters in elevation. They are apparently most common in semi-arid habitats. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Biology

These ants nest under stones, in very rocky loam. They can be aggressive when the nest is disturbed, and the minors, and especially the majors, can bite. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Castes

Minor

Images from AntWeb

Pheidole porcula casent0104783 head 1.jpgPheidole porcula casent0104783 profile 1.jpgPheidole porcula casent0104783 dorsal 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0104783. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by UCDC, Davis, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

  • porcula. Pheidole crassicornis subsp. porcula Wheeler, W.M. 1908e: 466, pl. 27, fig. 35 (s.w.) U.S.A. Taber & Cokendolpher, 1988: 95 (k.). Raised to species: Creighton, 1950a: 187. See also: Wilson, 2003: 159.

Type Material

TEXAS: Chisos Mts., Big Bend of southwestern Texas, col. O. W. Williams. Museum of Comparative Zoology and American Museum of Natural History - as reported in Wilson (2003) 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 member of the crassicornis group close to Pheidole crassicornis, Pheidole diversipilosa, Pheidole tetra and Pheidole vallicola, differing from these species in the following combination of traits.

Major: yellow; rugoreticulum on head stretches from frontal carinae obliquely upward posterior to level of eye but does not reach the eye; pilosity dense, in full-face view fringing the head and on the first gastral tergite forming a very short, uniform felt; humerus subangulate; postpetiole from above oval, not angulate; scape at widest part of basal portion is 2x widest part of distal portion; pronotum smooth and shiny except for anterior fringe, which is carinulate.

Minor: posterior half of head completely smooth and shiny, pronotum sparsely foveolate, feebly shiny; propodeal spines reduced to denticles.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Lectotype major: HW 1.58, HL 1.60, SL 0.92, EL 0.20, PW 0.78. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.60, HL 0.74, SL 0.84, EL 0.12, PW 0.40.

COLOR Major: concolorous yellow.

Minor: concolorous light reddish brown.


Pheidole porcula Wilson 2003.jpg

Figure. Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Karyotype

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • 2n = 20, karyotype = 20M (USA) (Taber & Cokendolpher, 1988).

Etymology

L porcula, little pig-like. (Wilson 2003)

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Alatorre-Bracamontes, C.E. and M Vasquez-Bolanos. 2010. Lista comentada de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del norte de México. Dugesiana 17(1):9-36
  • Cokendolpher J.C., Reddell J.R., Taylor S.J, Krejca J.K., Suarez A.V. and Pekins C.E. 2009. Further ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from caves of Texas [Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicdae) adicionales de cuevas de Texas]. Texas Memorial Museum Speleological Monographs, 7. Studies on the cave and endogean fauna of North America, V. Pp. 151-168
  • Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
  • LeBrun E. G., R. M. Plowes, and L. E. Gilbert. 2015. Imported fire ants near the edge of their range: disturbance and moisture determine prevalence and impact of an invasive social insect. Journal of Animal Ecology,81: 884–895.
  • Mackay W. P. and Mackay, E. E. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 400 pp.
  • McDonald D. L., D. R. Hoffpauir, and J. L. Cook. 2016. Survey yields seven new Texas county records and documents further spread of Red Imported Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. Southwestern Entomologist, 41(4): 913-920.
  • Moody J. V., and O. F. Francke. 1982. The Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Western Texas Part 1: Subfamily Myrmicinae. Graduate Studies Texas Tech University 27: 80 pp.
  • O'Keefe S. T., J. L. Cook, T. Dudek, D. F. Wunneburger, M. D. Guzman, R. N. Coulson, and S. B. Vinson. 2000. The Distribution of Texas Ants. The Southwestern Entomologist 22: 1-92.
  • Taber S. W., and J. C. Cokendolpher. 1988. Karyotypes of a dozen ant species from the southwestern U.S.A. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Caryologia 41: 93-102.
  • Van Pelt, A. 1983. Ants of the Chisos Mountains, Texas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) . Southwestern Naturalist 28:137-142.
  • Vasquez-Bolanos M. 2011. Checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Mexico. Dugesiana 18(1): 95-133.
  • Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
  • Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1985. A checklist of Texas ants. Prairie Naturalist 17:49-64.
  • Wilson, E.O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Genus. Harvard University Press
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