''Pheidole fervens'' is a species of ant in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Myrmicinae Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and ...

. ''Pheidole fervens'', described from Singapore, is a widespread invasive species and could be native to the

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

or the Oceanic region.

Habitat and distribution

It usually nests in soil or under stones and usually prefers disturbed habitats. On

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

it was collected in elevations between 1–800 m and tended to inhabit several different habitats from forest edge and

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

to disturbed and undisturbed

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

. On Mauritius, which seems to be its western distribution limit, this ant was found in the leaf litter of lowland rainforest (200 m elevation). As with most other introduced ants, such as '' P. teneriffana'', it is unclear what effect, if any, ''P. fervens'' might have on the rest of the local ant fauna. Considering that the ecosystems of the Mauritius islands have been severely altered and disturbed since the arrival of human settlers several hundred years ago, and native species must also contend with the invasions of introduced organisms, parts of the original ant fauna might have been marginalized or driven to extinction long ago. Fischer & Fisher (2013) speculate that the scarcity of ''P. fervens'' specimens in Mauritius ant collections and its presence in the rainforest means that this ant has not yet become an invasive and dominant aggressor toward other ant species. Nevertheless, efforts to further investigate the presence and activity of introduced '' Pheidole'' species are worthwhile, especially in the few remaining undisturbed habitats.

Description

The workers of ''P. fervens'' can be easily confused with those of ''P. teneriffana''. Morphologically the minor workers are best separated by coarse, mostly suberect scape pilosity, impressed metanotal groove, relatively smaller eyes and shorter spines in ''P. fervens'' versus decumbent to subdecumbent scape pilosity with longer suberect hairs along outer edge, inconspicuous metanotal groove in profile, and larger eyes and longer spines in ''P. teneriffana''. The major workers of ''P. fervens'' are recognizable by having longer scapes and a narrower postpetiole in dorsal view than ''P. teneriffana''. In ''P. fervens'', the pilosity in the face and on the metatibia is coarser and at least partly suberect, and the punctures on the sides of the face are stronger than the thinner and more decumbent to subdecumbent pilosity and superficial punctures on the sides of the face in ''P. teneriffana''.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q14085901 fervens Insects described in 1858