Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus.
Author
Wilson, E. O.
text
2003
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, MA
http://atbi.biosci.ohio-state.edu/HymOnline/reference-full.html?id=20017
book
20017
Pheidole risii
Forel
Pheidole risii
Forel 1892a: 38. Raised to species level in this monograph:
rugatula
,
trachyderma
.
Types Mus. Hist. Nat. Geneve; Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.
Etymology Named after the collector, Fr. Ris.
diagnosis Similar in various traits to
aper
,
bambusarum
,
brevicona
,
dyctiota
,
laeviventris
,
lutzi
,
rugatula
,
senilis
,
sigillata
,
trachyderma
, and
traini
, differing as follows.
Major: shallow antennal scrobes; pilosity along dorsal profile of head dense, with uniform short hairs about as long as Eye Length along the posterior half and much longer hairs along the anterior half; occipital cleft deep; occipital lobes smooth and subangulate; pronotum sparsely carinulate, mostly smooth; propodeal spine very stout, equilaterally triangular; postpetiolar node very broad, 2X broader than petiolar node, and spinose.
Minor: occiput, humeri, and propodeal dorsum rugoreticulate; almost all of head and mesosoma foveolate; occiput broad, concave, and lacking nuchal collar.
Measurements (mm) Syntype major: HW 0.96, HL 1.02, SL 0.44, EL 0.12, PW 0.54. Syntype minor: HW 0.66, HL 0.66, SL 0.62, EL 0.12, PW 0.44. color Major: body reddish yellow except for gaster, which is yellowish brown. Minor: concolorous dark yellow.
Range In addition to the type locality,
risii
has been recorded from Sao Paulo, Brazil (Kempf 1972b).
Biology Unknown.
Figure Upper: syntype, major. Lower: syntype, minor. ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires (Fr. Ris). Scale bars = 1 mm.