Pheidole microgyna Wheeler

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 456

Pheidole microgyna Wheeler

Pheidole microgyna Wheeler 1928b: 186. Further definition of status in Wilson 1984b: 323.

types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

etymology Gr microgyna , small female.

diagnosis A member of the flavens group similar to minutula but the queen much smaller, close in size to the worker caste of minutula . Body form as illustrated above.

measurements (mm) Lectotype queen: HW 0.46, HL 0.48, SL 0.40, EL 0.20, PW 0.36. color Concolorous light reddish brown, appendages yellowish brown.

range Known only from the type locality.

biology P. microgyna appears to be a social parasite of Pheidole minutula . The latter species is abundant in the Amazonian and Guianan rainforests of South America, where it nests in the swollen leaf bases of the melastome understory shrub Maieta guianensis. In an earlier analysis (Wilson 1984b), I pointed out that microg)>na may have its own workers, which are anatomically somewhat different from those of minutula , or workers identifiable as minutula . This circumstance suggests that microgyna is a temporary social parasite of minutula or some related free-living species. The small size of the microgyna queens also suggests such a life cycle. However, the status of this unusual form will not be solved until additional collections are made, preferably with field observations, allowing the taxonomy of the minutula complex to be more fully clarified.

Figure Lectotype, queen. GUYANA: Kartabo.

Outline of frontal view of head of minutula worker shown to left of that of the queen. Scale bar = 1 mm.