Pheidole centeotl Wheeler

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 568

Pheidole centeotl Wheeler

Pheidole centeotl Wheeler 1914c: 46.

Types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

Etymology Unknown.

diagnosis A member of the pilifera group with 3 worker castes (major, supermajor, minor) similar to macclendoni of Arizona and Texas, differing as follows.

Major: propodeal spines much shorter; humerus in dorsal-oblique view less prominent; postpetiolar node seen from above subangulate and diamond-shaped; light reddish brown, not yellow.

Supermajor: occipital cleft deeper, its sides rising more steeply to the occipital lobes on either side.

Minor: propodeal spine well-developed; carinulae present on frontal lobes, and those mesad to the eye extend posteriorly beyond the eye by as much as an Eye Length.

Measurements (mm) Lectotype major: HW 1.10, HL 1.20, SL 0.62, EL 0.14, PW 0.56.

Paralectotype supermajor: HW 1.84, HL 2.06, SL 0.80, EL 0.22, PW 0.80.

Paralectotype minor: HW 0.60, HL 0.66, SL 0.56, EL 0.12, PW 0.38.

Color Major: body light to medium reddish brown, appendages light reddish brown.

Supermajor: light to medium reddish brown.

Minor: concolorous light reddish brown.

Range I have seen series of centeotl from the following central and southeastern states of Mexico: Hidalgo, Michoacan, Morelos, Puebla, and Veracruz, all collected at elevations of 2200-2400 m.

Biology Mann (in Wheeler 1914c) found numerous colonies of this species nesting under stones on a hillside in oak-pine woodland near Molino Guerrero (an ore mill), on the eastern slope of the mountain range east of Pachuca. A colony collected by Robert J. Hamton near Jalapa, Veracruz, was nesting beneath a stone in pine forest at 2350 m. Winged reproductives were in a nest at 2200 m near Cuemavaca on 26 May 1986 (W. P. MacKay).

figure Upper: lectotype, major (body and full head), next to paralectotype, supermajor (partial head only). Lower: paralectotype, minor. MEXICO: Molino Guerrero (Guerrero Mill), Hidalgo, 2600-2900 m (William M. Mann). Scale bars = 1 mm.