A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Author
Wild, Alexander L.
text
Zootaxa
2007
1622
1
55
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.179222
9584df9a-a4a2-49bb-a256-cb99776f4dc8
1175-5326
179222
Pheidole reflexans
Santschi 1933
.
NEW STATUS.
Pheidole radoszkowskii
var.
reflexans
Santschi 1933: 109
. [w
syntypes
examined, NHMB;
Argentina
, Misiones, Est. Exp. Loreto].
Pheidole radoszkowskii
var.
reflexans
Santschi. Wilson 2003: 221
; junior synonym of
Pheidole radoszkowskii
Mayr.
Wilson (2003) took a broad view of
Pheidole radoszkowskii
and synonymized several names, including Santschi’s variety
reflexans
. The evidence for resurrecting
P. reflexans
to species is strong, however. Both
P. radoszkowskii
and
P. reflexans
are locally sympatric across eastern
Paraguay
, with the former species commonly found in open habitats such as campo cerrado, roadside, and pasture, while the later is restricted to closed forests.
Pheidole reflexans
can be one of the most common forest-floor ants and is frequently recovered in sifted litter samples from subtropical tall forests. The morphological differences between the two forms are consistent across eastern
Paraguay
.
Pheidole reflexans
is more
gracile
, with considerably longer legs and antennal scapes, and in
Paraguay
is also somewhat more pilose in the
major
caste, supporting> 10 suberect setae on gastric tergite 1 (= abd. tergite 4). This pilosity difference appears to be regional, as Mayr’s
P. radoszkowskii
types
from
French Guiana
(NHMW, examined) are more pilose than the Paraguayan populations of the same species.