Pheidole sagittaria, Wilson, E. O., 2003

Wilson, E. O., 2003, Pheidole in the New World. A dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press : 502

Pheidole sagittaria new species

types Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard.

Etymology L sagittaria , pertaining to arrows, referring to the head shape of the major.

diagnosis Similar to the species listed in the heading above, differing as follows.

Major: light brown; head strongly flattened dorsoventrally, so that in side view it is narrowly rectangular; in addition, the head and mandibles together in full-face view are heart-shaped or (adding flattening top to bottom) shaped like an arrowhead; propodeal spines reduced to denticles; apex of petiolar node pointed; carinulae cover most of anterior fourth of dorsal head surface, and almost all of the rest of the body smooth and shiny.

Minor: eye very large, oval, set far forward on head; propodeal spines reduced to denticles; almost all of head and body smooth and shiny.

measurements (mm) Holotype major: HW 0.72, HL 0.76, SL 0.38, EL 0.10, PW 0.34. Paratype minor: HW 0.34, HL 0.36, SL 0.32, EL 0.06, PW 0.22. Color Major: body light brown, appendages yellowish brown. Minor: body yellowish brown, appendages dark yellow.

Range Mostly montane regions of Costa Rica from 500 to 1600 m (Longino 1997).

Biology According to Longino (1997), sagittaria is common in mature wet forests. The two nests he found were, respectively, in a piece of rotten wood on the ground and under the loose bark of a dead tree trunk.

Figure Upper: holotype, major. Lower: paratype, minor. COSTA RICA: Rio Toro Amarillo, near Guapiles, Limon (W. L. Brown). Scale bars = 1 mm.