A NEW SPECIES OF PHEIDOLE FROM THE SOUTHWEST

Abstract

The genus Pheidole is abundantly represented in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, but heretofore no member of the subgenus Ceratopheidole Pergande, has been recorded from the United States. A few specimens belonging to this group were received from Mr. C. P. Stroud, who collected them near Car rizozo, New Mexico, in the vicinity of the lava beds of the Tula rosa Basin. All of the ants are workers, but as far as can be ascertained from the published descriptions of the several New World forms in the group, it appears they represent a new spe cies. Pheidole (Ceratopheidole) clydei sp. nov. Worker. Length 2.8-3 mm. Head, exclusive of the mandibles, slightly longer than broad, sides some what convex, and posterior margin straight; occipital angles evenly rounded. Eyes convex and located midway between the anterior and posterior borders of the head. Clypeus convex, produced anteriorly, its margin smooth, but sinuate or broadly emarginate in the middle. Mandibles of the usual shape, with two large, apical teeth, and five to six denticles along the incisor mar gin. Antennae long and slender, the scape only slightly curved, and extend ing approximately i its length beyond the occipital corners of the head. Funiculus with an elongated, 4-segmented club, the segments subequal in length, and each about 1i to 2 times as long as wide, or even slightly longer. The remaining funicular segments slender, and about 1i times as long as wide. Thorax narrow, prothorax a little more than j as wide as the head; humeral angles rounded. Thorax is profile convex, but low; pro-mesonotal suture present and slightly impressed, meso-epinotal suture distinct. Epi notum long, flat, and nearly horizontal; declivity only j to i as long as the basal face. Spines long and sharp, fully i as long as the epinotal base, and directed slightly upward and outward. Petiole long and narrow, almost 3 times as long as wide; the node in profile low, with a long, concave an terior slope, and much shorter posterior slope. Postpetiole about as long as wide, convex above and flat beneath, subglobose, and twice as wide as the petiole. Abdomen of the usual shape. Front and gula shining, clypeus indistinctly granular, the remainder of the head sculptured with coarse punctures, giving a subopaque to opaque appear