Pheidole prattorum

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Pheidole prattorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. prattorum
Binomial name
Pheidole prattorum
Wilson, 2003

Pheidole prattorum jtlc000003456 p 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

One of the colonies of prattorum was found by Longino in mature lowland rainforest beneath an epiphyte mat in an old treefall. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Known only from the type colony and three others collected by John T. Longino (1997) and Leeanne Tennant at the La Selva Biological Station in northeastern Costa Rica. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 19.5219668° to 10.3°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Costa Rica (type locality), Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua.

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 prattorum casent0635505 h 1 high.jpgPheidole prattorum casent0635505 p 1 high.jpgPheidole prattorum casent0635505 l 1 high.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0635505. Photographer J. Longino, uploaded by University of Utah. Owned by JTLC.

Nomenclature

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

  • prattorum. Pheidole prattorum Wilson, 2003: 736, figs. (s.w.) COSTA RICA.

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

Description

DIAGNOSIS Similar in various traits to Pheidole balzani, Pheidole brunnescens, Pheidole exarata, Pheidole excubitor, Pheidole fabricator, Pheidole germaini, Pheidole hispaniolae, Pheidole nigella, Pheidole sabina, Pheidole sarpedon, Pheidole tristis, Pheidole tristops and Pheidole unicornis, distinguished as follows.

Major: reddish yellow; posterior third of head dorsum mostly smooth; carinulae cover most of anterior two-thirds of head dorsum, their posterior ends aligned in an even semicircle transversely across the head; in dorsal-oblique view, humerus raised slightly as a broad lobe; mesonotal convexity almost completely suppressed; short, thin propodeal spines vertical on propodeal basal face, in side view tilted slightly forward; postpetiole from above diamond-shaped; anterior and lateral margins of pronotal dorsum carinulate, and almost all the rest of mesosoma smooth and shiny.

Minor: head and body almost completely smooth and shiny; occiput broad, lacking a nuchal collar; propodeal spine reduced to denticle, or absent.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Holotype major: HW 1.22, HL 1.34, SL 0.60, EL 0.14, PW 0.64. Paratype minor: HW 0.54, HL 0.56, SL 0.54, EL 0.06, PW 0.34.

COLOR Major: concolorous reddish yellow.

Minor: concolorous plain medium yellow.


Pheidole prattorum Wilson 2003.jpg

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

Type Material

COSTA RICA: La Selva Biological Station, near Puerto Viejo, Heredia, col. Leeanne Tennant-Alonso. Museum of Comparative Zoology

Etymology

Named in honor of Joe D. Pratt, ardent and effective supporter of biodiversity studies, and his family.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Longino J. T. L., and M. G. Branstetter. 2018. The truncated bell: an enigmatic but pervasive elevational diversity pattern in Middle American ants. Ecography 41: 1-12.
  • Longino J. T., J. Coddington, and R. K. Colwell. 2002. The ant fauna of a tropical rain forest: estimating species richness three different ways. Ecology 83: 689-702.
  • Longino J. T., and R. K. Colwell. 2011. Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2(3): 16pp.
  • Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/