Pheidole tepicana

Pheidole tepicana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Pheidole
Species:	P. tepicana
Binomial name
	Pheidole tepicana; Pergande, 1896 Specimen Label
Synonyms
	Pheidole carbonaria Pergande, 1896; Pheidole kingi André, 1898; Pheidole kingi instabilis Emery, 1901; Pheidole kingi torpescens Wheeler, W.M., 1915; Pheidole rugifrons Pergande, 1896; Pheidole townsendi André, 1898;

In the Santa Cruz Mountains of Arizona, Stefan Cover (unpublished notes) found a colony of tepicana in an open area with opuntia and dwarf acacia surrounded by blue oak, nesting under a stone in the sun; the nest contained a cache of seeds. The species is notably flexible in its choices of nest site. Near Tucson, Arizona, I observed a colony in an open grassy area, spread out beneath multiple stones. In western Texas, Moody and Francke (1982) found numerous colonies, nesting mostly under stones and in open soil; one colony each was also beneath a log, a piece of metal, and a grass clump respectively. And finally, at Cuernavaca, Wheeler (1901b) observed that colonies were common beneath pats of half-dried cow dung. (Wilson 2003)

Identification

Pheidole tepicana has three worker castes: a minor, major and supermajor.

Mackay and Mackay (2002) - The deep, semicircular emargination (cut out margin) along the anterior border of the clypeus of the major, separates this species from all the others in New Mexico. The anterior 1/3 of the head is finely rugose, the posterior lateral lobes have fine, transverse striae, and the remainder of the head is smooth and glossy. The humeral angles are poorly developed, as are the lateral connules. The dorsum of the pronotum is smooth and glossy, much of the side of the mesosoma is glossy, and the propodeal spines are small and somewhat upturned. The minor worker is a small, brown specimen, with pale brown legs. The dorsum of the head is smooth and glossy, as is much of the mesosoma, especially the pronotum. The propodeal spines are small, consisting of tiny angles.

Also see the description in the nomenclature section.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Texas, Arizona southward to at least Jalisco, Mexico: often locally abundant. (Wilson 2003)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 35.404° to 16.332286°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

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

Distribution based on AntMaps

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.

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.

Biology

Association with Other Organisms

Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

This species is a host for the encyrtid wasp Holcencyrtus wheeleri (a parasite) (Universal Chalcidoidea Database) (associate, primary host).
This species is a associate (details unknown) for the encyrtid wasp Pheidoloxenus wheeleri (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a host for the eucharitid wasp Orasema viridis (a parasite) (Wheeler, 1907; Baker et al., 2019; Universal Chalcidoidea Database) (primary host).
This species is a host for the eucharitid wasp Orasema viridis (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode independent; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
This species is a host for the eucharitid wasp Orasema wheeleri (a parasite) (Wheeler, 1907; Gahan, 1940; Baker et al., 2019; Universal Chalcidoidea Database) (primary host).
This species is a host for the eucharitid wasp Orasema wheeleri (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode independent; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
This species is a host for the pteromalid wasp Pheidoloxenus wheeleri (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode unknown; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

Castes

Unusual in having three discrete worker castes.

P. tepicana. Photo by Alex Wild.

The following images are provided by Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology and Antweb.org

Worker

Minor

Images from AntWeb


Worker. Specimen code casent0173654. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.


Worker. Specimen code casent0173656. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.


Syntype of Pheidole carbonaria. Worker. Specimen code castype00635. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Major and Supermajors

Images from AntWeb


Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code casent0173873. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.


Paratype of Pheidole tepicana. Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code castype00633. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.


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Additional images can be found on the Pheidole tepicana category page.

Nomenclature

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

carbonaria. Pheidole carbonaria Pergande, 1896: 881 (s.w.) MEXICO. Junior synonym of tepicana: Emery, 1901b: 119.
rugifrons. Pheidole rugifrons Pergande, 1896: 880 (s.) MEXICO. Junior synonym of tepicana: Emery, 1901b: 119.
tepicana. Pheidole tepicana Pergande, 1896: 878 (s.w.) MEXICO. Taber & Cokendolpher, 1988: 95 (k.). Senior synonym of carbonaria, rugifrons: Emery, 1901b: 119; of instabilis, kingi (and its junior synonym townsendi), torpescens: Creighton & Gregg, 1955: 24. See also: Wilson, 2003: 601.
kingi. Pheidole kingi André, 1898: 244 (s.w.) MEXICO. Combination in P. (Allopheidole): Forel, 1912f: 237. Senior synonym of townsendi: Emery, 1922e: 105. Junior synonym of tepicana: Creighton & Gregg, 1955: 24.
townsendi. Pheidole townsendi André, 1898: 246 (s.w.) MEXICO. Junior synonym of kingi: Emery, 1922e: 105.
instabilis. Pheidole kingi subsp. instabilis Emery, 1901b: 120 (s.w.) U.S.A. Wheeler, W.M. 1908e: 433 (q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1953b: 74 (l.). Junior synonym of tepicana: Creighton & Gregg, 1955: 24.
torpescens. Pheidole kingi subsp. torpescens Wheeler, W.M. 1915b: 404 (s.w.) U.S.A. Junior synonym of tepicana: Creighton & Gregg, 1955: 24.

Type Material

Mexico Tepic, Nayarit, collected by Eisen and Vaslit. American Museum of Natural History and National 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): DIAGNOSIS A member of the “pilifera complex” of the larger pilifera group; for a characterization of the complex, see under Pheidole pilifera.

P. tepicana is distinguished within the complex as follows. Trimorphic, with major, supermajor, and minor castes.

Major: posterior half of dorsum of head except for occiput smooth and shiny; pronotum low and smoothly convex; mesonotal convexity very low; postpetiole from above diamond-shaped. Supermajor: posterior third of head covered by a mixture of rugulae and rugoreticula; rugoreticulum present between eye and antennal fossa.

Minor: propodeal spines reduced to denticles; head almost entirely smooth and shiny.

MEASUREMENTS (mm)

Major (Austin, Texas): HW 1.12, HL 1.34, SL 0.62, EL 0.12, PW 0.54.
Supermajor (Guadalajara, Mexico): HW 1.62, HL 2.00, SL 0.74, EL 0.14, PW 0.74.
Minor (Austin, Texas): HW 0.52, HL 0.56, SL 0.52, EL 0.12, PW 0.32.

COLOR Major: reddish yellow.

Supermajor: light reddish brown.

Minor: brownish yellow.

Figure. Upper: major (plus partial frontal head view of a supermajor). Lower: minor. TEXAS: major and minor from Austin (syntypes of the synonymy kingi subsp. instabilis Emery); supermajor from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Lectotype Specimen Labels

Karyotype

See additional details at the Ant Chromosome Database.

Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

2n = 18, karyotype = 18M (USA) (Taber & Cokendolpher, 1988).

Etymology

Name based on type locality. (Wilson 2003)

Worker Morphology

Explore: Show all Worker Morphology data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Caste: trimorphic

References

Wilson, E. O. 2003. Pheidole in the New World: A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (page 601, fig. major, minor described)
Alatorre-Bracamontes, C.E., Vásquez-Bolaños, M. 2010. Lista comentada de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del norte de México. Dugesiana 17(1): 9-36.
André, E. 1898. Description de deux nouvelles fourmis du Mexique (Hymén.). Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 1898: 244-247.
Baker, A.J., Heraty, J.M., Mottern, J., Hang, J.Z., Hines, H.M., Lemmon, A.R., Lemmon, E.M. 2019. Inverse dispersal patterns in a group of ant parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Eucharitidae: Oraseminae) and their ant hosts. Systematic Entomology 45: 1–19 (doi:10.1111/syen.12371).
Creighton, W. S.; Gregg, R. E. 1955. New and little-known species of Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Univ. Colo. Stud. Ser. Biol. 3: 1-46 (page 24, Senior synonym of instabilis, kingi (and its junior synonym townsendi) and torpescens)
Emery, C. 1901c. Remarques sur un petit groupe de Pheidole (Hymén. Formic.) de la région sonorienne. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 1901: 119-121 (page 119, Senior synonym of carbonaria and rugifrons)
Ivanov, K. 2019. The ants of Ohio (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): an updated checklist. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 70: 65–87 (doi:10.3897@jhr.70.35207).
Mackay, W. P. and E. Mackay. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY.
Moody, J. V., Francke, O. F. 1982. The ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of western Texas, Part 1: Subfamily Myrmicinae. Grad. Stud. Tex. Tech Univ. 27: 1–80.
Pergande, T. 1896. Mexican Formicidae. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. (2) 5: 858-896 (page 878, soldier, worker described)
Quevillon, L. 2018. THE ECOLOGY, EPIDEMIOLOGY, AND EVOLUTION OF PARASITES INFECTING ANTS (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE). Ph.D. Dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University.
Taber, S. W.; Cokendolpher, J. C. 1988. Karyotypes of a dozen ant species from the southwestern U.S.A. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Caryologia 41: 93-102 (page 95, karyotype described)
Varela-Hernández, F., Medel-Zosayas, B., Martínez-Luque, E.O., Jones, R.W., De la Mora, A. 2020. Biodiversity in central Mexico: Assessment of ants in a convergent region. Southwestern Entomologist 454: 673-686.
Vázquez-Franco, C.M., Morrone, J.J. 2022. The genus Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Puebla, Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 93: e933820 (doi:10.22201/ib.20078706e.2022.93.3820).
Wheeler, W. M. 1901. Notices biologiques sur les fourmis Mexicaines. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 45: 199–205.

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
Creighton W. S., and R. E. Gregg. 1955. New and little-known species of Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. University of Colorado Studies. Series in Biology 3: 1-46.
Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
Emery C. 1901. Remarques sur un petit groupe de Pheidole (Hymén. Formic.) de la région sonorienne. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 1901: 119-121.
Fernandes, P.R. XXXX. Los hormigas del suelo en Mexico: Diversidad, distribucion e importancia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
Field Museum Collection, Chicago, Illinois (C. Moreau)
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.
Johnson R. Personnal Database. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/resources.htm
Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
Mackay W. P., and E. E. Mackay. 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.
Miguelena J. G., and P. B. Baker. 2019. Effects of urbanization on the diversity, abundance, and composition of ant assemblages in an arid city. Environmental Entomology doi: 10.1093/ee/nvz069.
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.
Pergande, T. 1895. Mexican Formicidae. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Ser. 2 :850-896
Rivas-Arancibia, S. P., H. Carrillo-Ruiz, A. Bonilla-Arce, D. M. Figueroa-Castro, and A. R. Andres-Hernandez. 2014. Effect of disturbance on the ant community in a semiarid region of central Mexico. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 12: 703-716.
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.
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 W. M. 1908. The ants of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. (Part I.). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 24: 399-485.
Wheeler W. M. 1915. Some additions to the North American ant-fauna. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 34: 389-421.
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