Pheidole laevifrons Mayr

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press : 199

Pheidole laevifrons Mayr

Pheidole laevifrons Mayr 1887: 598.

types Naturhist. Mus. Wien.

etymology L laevifrons , smooth or polished front, presumably alluding to the mostly smooth, shiny dorsum of the head of both castes.

Diagnosis A small, yellow member of the diligens group, distinguished as follows.

Major: cephalic sculpturing limited to the anterior third of the head, level with and anterior to the eyes; moderately abundant pilosity; relatively short propodeal spines. Close to peregrina , but major with much shallower occipital cleft in frontal view, thinner petiolar peduncle and node in side view, and more mesad placement of cephalic rugoreticulum.

Minor: thicker propodeal spines and longer scapes. Also similar to triconstricta but with much denser pilosity, shallower occipital cleft, and bilobous as opposed to trilobous promesonotal profile in dorsal-oblique view.

See also the less similar coffeicola , pubiventris , seeldrayersi , and variegata .

measurements (mm) Lectotype major: HW 1.08, HL 1.06, SL 0.86, EL 0.20, PW 0.54.

Paralectotype minor: HW 0.60, HL 0.70, SL 0.82, EL 0.14, PW 0.36.

Color Major and minor: concolorous yellow.

range Known only from the type series.

Biology Unknown.

Figure Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. BRAZIL: Santa Catarina. Scale bars = 1 mm.