Pheidole haskinsorum HNS new species

Types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

Etymology Named for the distinguished myrmecologists Caryl P. and Edna F. Haskins.

diagnosis A small member of the fallax HNS group, similar to lattkei HNS, obscurior HNS, petrensis HNS, and susannae HNS, and distinguished by the following traits.

Major: small; antennal scape surpasses occipital corner by its own maximum width; posterior third of head capsule devoid of sculpturing except for several carinulae along the midline that run to the occiput; rugoreticulum limited to a small patch just mesad to the eyes; head subrectangular in shape; pronotum bare except for foveolae on anterior and lateral margins; a thin anterior fringe of shagreening present on first gastral tergite.

Minor: head in full-face view with an unusual, symmetrically elliptical shape; nuchal crest present; propodeal spines short and thin.

Measurements (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.84, HL 0.94, SL 0.86, EL 0.16, PW 0.52.

Paratype minor: HW 0.48, HL 0.16, SL 0.86, EL 0.16, PW 0.34.

color Major: body dark reddish brown, appendages medium reddish brown.

Minor: head, mesosoma, and waist dark brown; gaster and appendages light brown.

Range Known from the type locality and from the Yasuni National Park of Ecuador.

Biology The type series was collected in a burned-over pasture as the workers retrieved insects.

Figure Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. BOLIVIA: Saavedra Experimental Farm (James C. Trager). Scale bars = 1 mm.