Pheidole taurus Emery

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 141

Pheidole taurus Emery

Pheidole taurus Emery 1906c: 142. Types Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova.

Etymology Gr taurus , bull, alluding to the horn-like frontal lobes of the major.

Diagnosis The most distinctive member of the aberrans group and one of the most unusual Pheidole species. Major: frontal lobes drawn out into sharp, downward- and inward-curving horn-like extensions that reach beyond the clypeus to overhang the bases of the mandibles; laterally the edges of the frontal lobes extend past the margins of the head; bicolorous (see Color below); carinulae of head confined to a broad band from the level of the frontal triangle to the transverse carina that delimits the beginning of the occiput.

Minor: promesonotal dorsum covered by semicircular carinae; carinulae on head mostly limited to antennal fossae and clypeus. Measurements (mm) Lectotype major: HW 1.08, HL 1.24, SL 0.42, EL 0.10, PW 0.66. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.48, HL 0.56, SL 0.42, EL 0.08, PW 0.34.

color Major: concolorous reddish yellow, including midclypeus, but "horns" (extended frontal lobes), together with the frontal triangle and vertex, are dark brown, forming a "mask" over anterior dorsal surface of the head. Range Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, Argentina (Kempf 1972b). Biology Unknown.

Figure Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. ARGENTINA: Santa Catalina, Buenos Aires. Scale bars = 1 mm.