Pheidole sarcina

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Pheidole sarcina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Pheidole
Species: P. sarcina
Binomial name
Pheidole sarcina
Forel, 1912

Pheidole sarcina casent0908161 p 1 high.jpg

Pheidole sarcina casent0908161 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Rosumek (2017) assessed trophic resource use and period of activity within the ant community in a southern Brazil Atlantic forest. He found this species collected more seeds and feces than other more generalist Phediole species sampled in this study. It is known to commonly nest in twigs within leaf litter (Fernandes et al., 2018).

Identification

See the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

From Wilson (2003): Known from type locality, from other localities in São Paulo, and from near Bucay, Guayas, Ecuador (W. L. Brown).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -24.566667° to -24.566667°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Brazil (type locality), Ecuador.

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 sarcina casent0908162 h 1 high.jpgPheidole sarcina casent0908162 p 1 high.jpgPheidole sarcina casent0908162 d 1 high.jpgPheidole sarcina casent0908162 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Pheidole sarcinaWorker. Specimen code casent0908162. 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.

  • sarcina. Pheidole breviconus var. sarcina Forel, 1912f: 230 (s.w.) BRAZIL. Raised to species: Wilson, 2003: 748.

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): DIAGNOSIS Similar in various traits to Pheidole alpinensis, Pheidole androsana, Pheidole antillana, Pheidole avia, Pheidole bakeri, Pheidole guilelmimuelleri and Pheidole praeses, differing in the following combination.

Major: frontal lobes project for short distance as lobes, in side view; humerus obliquely subangulate and mesonotal convexity rightangulate in dorsal-oblique view; petiolar node tapers to a rounded point in side view; postpetiole spinose; shallow, narrow antennal scrobe present; carinulae originating on frontal lobes spread outward all the way to the occiput; occipital lobes smooth with scattered foveae; small rugoreticulum behind each antennal fossa; most of pronotal dorsum and propodeal dorsum carinulate.

Minor: occiput narrow, with nuchal collar; all of posterior dorsum of head and almost all of mesonotal and propodeal dorsa “tigerstriped” with semicircular and transverse carinulae; propodeal spine reduced to denticle.

MEASUREMENTS (mm) Syntype major: HW 1.54, HL 1.54, SL 0.80, EL 0.18, PW 0.72. Syntype minor: HW 0.60, HL 0.70, SL 0.82, EL 0.12, PW 0.46.

COLOR Major: body medium reddish brown, appendages light reddish brown.

Minor: head and mesosoma medium reddish brown; waist, gaster, and appendages light reddish brown.


Pheidole sarcina Wilson 2003.jpg

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

Type Specimen Labels

Type Material

BRAZIL: Botucatu, São Paulo. Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève - as reported in Wilson (2003)

Etymology

L sarcina, package, bundle, possibly alluding to frontal cephalic carinulae. (Wilson 2003)

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Fernandes T. T., R. R. Silva, D. Rodrigues de Souza-Campana, O. Guilherme Morais da Silva, and M. Santina de Castro Morini. 2019. Winged ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) presence in twigs on the leaf litter of Atlantic Forest. Biota Neotropica 19(3): http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2018-0694
  • Fernandes T. T., W. Dattilo, R. R. Silva, P. Luna, C. M. Oliveira, and M. Santina de Castro Morini. 2019. Ant occupation of twigs in the leaf litter of the Atlantic Forest: influence of the environment and external twig structure. Tropical Conservation Science 12: 1-9.
  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Forel A. 1912. Formicides néotropiques. Part III. 3me sous-famille Myrmicinae (suite). Genres Cremastogaster et Pheidole. Mémoires de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 19: 211-237.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Luederwaldt H. 1918. Notas myrmecologicas. Rev. Mus. Paul. 10: 29-64.