Under Construction

Pheidoliphila Lea 1914

Michael S. Caterino
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Containing group: Chlamydopsinae

Introduction

Pheidoliphila, occurring in temperate parts of Australia, was among the earliest recognized genera of Chlamydopsinae (Lea 1914). Its name refers to the association of some species with ants in the genus Pheidole. Of the 26 known species of the Pheidoliphila, host records are available for only five of the species, and the host of one of these (Pheidophila sternalis) is the ant Rhytidoponera. So the name cannot be taken too literally.

Characteristics

The most reliable character identifying members of Pheidoliphila is the position of the elytral trichome, restricted to the humeral corner, though it has been lost in a few species. In these, and in most of the others, a prominent projection is present on the front of the pronotum. In many species this is strongly and strangely developed, forming an anterior horn, or in some appearing to form a rounded pair of horns. In this latter case (as in P. verity, pictured above), it has been suggested that the entire body of the beetle mimics the shape of an ant head, with these horns representing the ant's mandibles.

References

Dégallier, N., and Caterino, M. S. 2005b. Notes taxonomiques sur les Chlamydopsinae et descriptions d’espčces nouvelles. - II. Genre Pheidoliphila Lea. Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de France 110:463–494.

Lea, A. 1914. On Australian and Tasmanian Coleoptera with descriptions of new species. Part II. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 26 (n.s.), 211–227.

Information on the Internet

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Pheidoliphila micra
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By Michael S. Caterino
Collection Museum National de Histoire Naturelle, Paris
Type Holotype
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Pheidoliphila minuta
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By Michael S. Caterino
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Pheidoliphila verityi
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By Michael S. Caterino
Type Paratype
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page


Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Michael S. Caterino at

Page: Tree of Life Pheidoliphila Lea 1914. Authored by Michael S. Caterino. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Caterino, Michael S. 2007. Pheidoliphila Lea 1914. Version 15 July 2007 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Pheidoliphila/9257/2007.07.15 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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