Pheidole indica Mayr, 1879

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Fisher, Brian L., Collingwood, Cedric A. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2017, Ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): zoogeography, distribution and description of a new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 51 (5 - 6), pp. 317-378 : 350-352

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).

Figures

Figure 18. Pheidole indica. (a) Body in profile. (b) Head in full-face view, CASENT0906401, AntWeb. org, (Estella Ortega), KSA. (c) Distribution map from Collingwood et al. (2004).