Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Formicidae

Pheidole smythiesii Forel, 1902 Figure 22

Material examined.

China, Yunnan, Xishuangbanna: XTBG (21.919°N, 101.272°E), Secondary forest, 05.vi.2013, 9 workers, 550m, Winkler sifting, B. Guénard, B. Blanchard and C. Liu; XTBG (21.918°N, 101.271°E), Secondary forest, 05.vi.2013, 2 workers, 581m, Winkler sifting, B. Guénard, B. Blanchard and C. Liu; XTBG (21.911°N, 101.283°E), Limestone forest, 05.vi.2013, 1 worker, 675m, Winkler sifting, B. Guénard, B. Blanchard and C. Liu; Man Sai village (21.858°N, 101.276°E), Secondary forest, 12.vi.2013, 5 workers, 675m, Winkler sifting, B. Guénard, B. Blanchard and C. Liu.

Distribution.

Widely distributed in South China, Vietnam, Thailand and India (Figure 22C).

Taxonomic note.

Pheidole smythiesii can be identified with the identification key to Northern Vietnamese Pheidole provided by Eguchi (2008).

Natural history.

Pheidole smythiesii has been collected from leaf litter from secondary forest. Eguchi (2008) reported the species to usually inhabit woody habitats and sometimes open areas where it nests in the soil. Pheidole smythiesii is also known to tend aphid colonies (Alfred and Agarwal 1990).