Pheidole potosiana ^HNS new species

Types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

Etymology Named after the Mexican state of the type series.

diagnosis A member of the fallax ^HNS group similar in various characters to the species listed above, distinguished as follows. Major: dorsal profde of first two gastral tergites lined with a fringe of subrecumbent short hairs of equal length; humerus in dorsaloblique view subangulate; rugoreticulum present on each side of the head as a broad swatch from eye to upper circular carinulae around antennal fossa; a patch of rugoreticulum also present around midline of occiput; entire promesonotum foveolate, and anterior pronotal dorsum carinulate.

Minor: posterior half of head dorsum smooth, but all of mesosoma and waist, and area mesad to eye, foveolate and opaque; occiput in frontal view weakly convex.

measurements (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.94, HL 1.00, SL 0.74, EL 0.16, PW 0.52. Paratype minor: HW 0.52, HL 0.60, SL 0.72, EL 0.14, PW 0.36.

color Holotype major (San Luis Potosi): gaster light brown, rest of body reddish yellow, with dark area on vertex and mid-occiput, as illustrated.

Paratype minor (San Luis Potosi): concolorous yellowish brown.

Paratype major (Nuevo Leon): concolorous medium brown, with slight reddish tinge.

Paratype minor (Nuevo Leon): plain light brown.

range In addition to the types from San Luis Potosi, central Mexico, I have also seen material from Cola de Caballo, Nuevo Leon, in the northeast of Mexico.

Biology The San Luis Potosi type colony was collected from tropical deciduous forest.

figure Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. MEXICO: 3 km northeast of Xilitia, San Luis Potosi (A. B. Hamton and B. S. Ikeda). Scale bars = 1 mm.