Pheidole indica Mayr, 1879

(Figure 18 (a–c))

Pheidole indica Mayr, 1879: 679 (s.w.q.) India. Indomalaya.

Diagnosis

Major worker. Cephalic dorsum with oblique longitudinal rugae posteriorly, curved toward posterolateral lobes; promesonotal process prominent and well-developed; metanotal groove shallow in profile; postpetiole in dorsal view trapezoidal with rounded lateral corners; postpetiole 1.9–2.5 times broader than petiole in dorsal view; postpetiolar ventral process reduced.

Geographic range

A successful invasive species originally described from India and recorded from the Canary Islands (Espadaler and Bernal 2003) and broadly distributed in several regions of the world, including the Arabian Peninsula (Collingwood 1985; Collingwood and Agosti 1996), the Mediterranean region, West Indian islands, the Malagasy region and the New World, with many scattered records in several continents (Fischer and Fisher 2013).

Ecological and biological notes

This species prefers drier habitats (Wetterer 2011) and urban areas (Collingwood et al. 1997; Gòmez and Espadaleer 2006). It was observed to be aggressive toward other ant species in the same habitats (Collingwood 1985) with a negative impact on local native ants, e.g. Pheidole sinaitica Mayr, 1862 (Collingwood, personal communication).