Pheidole guajirana, Wilson, E. O., 2003

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 431

Pheidole guajirana new species

Types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

Etymology Named after the northernmost region of Colombia, origin of the type series.

Diagnosis Somewhat similar in various traits to the Nearctic species casta , mera , and tysoni , and easily distinguished as follows. Major: posterior half of dorsal head profile flat; eye set well forward on head, pearl-shaped, with anterior end tapered slightly; head bicolored; dorsum of promesonotum covered with faint longitudinal carinulae, and foveolate; petiolar node tapered at apex; postpetiole from above diamond-shaped.

Minor: eye set well forward on head; occiput broad, its margin weakly concave; all of head, mesosoma, and petiole foveolate. Measurements (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.70, HL 0.78, SL 0.34, EL 0.10, PW 0.36. Paratype minor: HW 0.40, HL 0.44, SL 0.32, EL 0.06, PW 0.26.

color Major: most of body medium brown (mesosoma tending to dark brown), and anterior one-sixth of head capsule, and appendages, brownish yellow.

Minor: body medium brown, appendages brownish yellow.

Range Known from collections made at elevations to 200 m in several localities in Guajira and Magdalena, Colombia, as well as a series from the Caracarai Road 20 km northeast of Manaus, Brazil.

Biology Found in or near rainforest, variously in sand and, in one instance, a rotten log in beach sand.

Figure Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. COLOMBIA: Puente Bomba, near Dibulla, Guajira (William L. and Doris E. Brown). Scale bars = 1 mm.