taxonID	type	description	language	source
1E4F1E82A8B9A6A9B14902CD580CF401.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole anastasii is a Neotropical native that ranges from Mexico to southern Central America or northern South America. We consider many of the outdoor records of Pheidole anastasii from the southern United States to refer instead to Pheidole bilimeki (see discussion above). There are, however confirmed records of the species from heated indoor locations - especially greenhouses. In North America there are records from hothouses in Washington D. C. and New York (Longino and Cox 2009), and also from Massachusetts. In Europe, the Netherlands occurrences reported as Pheidole anastasii by Boer and Vierbergen (2008) refer to Pheidole bilimeki (Boer, pers. comm.). The records from Denmark and Norway might also refer to Pheidole bilimeki, but until specimens can be examined we follow the authors' use of Pheidole anastasii (Birkemoe and Aak 2008; Lomholdt 1986).	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
AE648D7ED4E23E3DB6F773DBEE5B0393.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole bilimeki is a Neotropical native that ranges from northern South America to southern North America and across the Caribbean. The records included here from the southern United States have previously been treated as Pheidole anastasii and Pheidole floridana (see discussion). Pheidole bilimeki was not reported from Florida until 1932 (Wheeler). While it is possible that the penetration of Pheidole bilimeki into the southern United States represents a recent dispersal event, even one that has been anthropogenically facilitated, there are several reasons for considering Pheidole bilimeki as native to the region. Firstly, the range of North American populations appear contiguous with those of Mexico and the Caribbean, and gene flow among them is probable. Secondly, populations from Florida are known to host two parasites, a mermithid that parasitizes workers, and a hymenopteran parasite species of the genus Orasema (Naves 1985). Pheidole bilimeki has been recorded from greenhouses in Illinois and Ohio in North America. The species has also been found indoors and greenhouses across Europe, including the Netherlands (Boer and Vierbergen 2008), Germany (Forel 1908), Great Britain (Forel 1908), Ireland (Stelfox 1927), and Switzerland (Forel 1908). The only occurrence of Pheidole bilimeki in Jamaica is reported by Wilson (2003). Although the species might occur there, it is also possible that Wilson was referring to Pheidole jamaicensis Wheeler. The single Mauritius occurrence is of a single minor worker examined by Donisthorpe (1946), but this specimen more likely refers to the superficially similar Pheidole parva which is widespread across the island and its neighbors in the Indian Ocean.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
BACDE9800BB9117FBC3616CC8CDDC163.taxon	distribution	Distribution. We consider Pheidole fervens as native to a broad expanse of the Indo-Malay region spanning from India east to the Philippines and south to the islands west of New Guinea. This is a broad and admittedly arbitrary boundary, but a more precise circumscription of the native range requires a population-level analysis outside the scope of the present study. In particular, it is difficult to ascertain the extent of its range into the Pacific Island region prior to the Anthropocene. The only known occurrence of Pheidole fervens from New Guinea was a single record from the westernmost part of the island (Emery 1887 b). East of New Guinea, however, the species is established on nearly all islands of the Pacific, including those which were uninhabited by any ant prior to human arrival. Although it is quite possible that Pheidole fervens reached some of these islands without human assistance - especially those between Taiwan and mainland Japan - we treat these as introduced populations. And although established on Mauritius, the species is rarely encountered there and is currently known from only two localities (Fischer and Fisher 2013). The only record of introduction in North America is a California population that established nests in cracks of roads and along the sides of buildings in a two-block area of downtown Los Angeles (Martinez 1996). Pheidole fervens has been collected from greenhouses in the Netherlands (Boer and Vierbergen 2008), and is frequently intercepted by quarantine inspections (Ward et al. 2006).	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
E4EA04871C786D6EC8D235EB6B284538.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole flavens is among the most widespread and abundant species of its genus in the New World, although this range might be representative of multiple cryptic species. As currently conceived, however, we consider Pheidole flavens native from southern Mexico east through the Caribbean and south to Uruguay and northern Argentina. It is difficult to know whether the disjunction separating the western and eastern regions of South America is accurate or a sampling artifact. The Florida population is believed to have derived from an accidental introduction by commerce (Deyrup et al. 2000; Wilson 2003).	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
A0F4553A2370FDC3EBA61145C53DF85F.taxon	distribution	Distribution. We treat all occurrence records from the regions of Indomalaya west of the Korean Peninsula as native. The Korean and Japanese populations are considered introduced (Choi and Bang 1993; Choi et al. 1993 a; Choi et al. 1993 b; Terayama 1992), and additional portions of the range in Asia might also have resulted from anthropogenic transport. Pheidole indica has been introduced to scattered localities across the globe, although the vast majority of these records were attributed to its junior synonym, Pheidole teneriffana. Introduced populations have been reported from the Mediterranean, northern Africa, the Malagasy region, Western Australia, Peru, the Caribbean, and southern California.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
5F4328F064013669DFDE7A1D2A38D25D.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole megacephala is a cosmopolitan species that has established across the globe as a household and agricultural pest throughout the tropics. Wetterer (2012) provided a detailed review of the worldwide spread of Pheidole megacephala, and cites Wheeler's statement (Wheeler 1922 a) that it is most likely of Afrotropical or Malagasy origin, the only two regions with a diversity of related species (" subspecies and varieties "). Theoretically it is possible that a common ancestor of Pheidole megacephala and the Malagasy endemics Pheidole punctulata spinosa, Pheidole megatron and Pheidole decepticon arrived on the islands in prehistoric times, diversified there, and that Pheidole megacephala was later transported to all other regions including Africa only after the arrival of humans. But the distribution of Pheidole megacephala on Madagascar strongly resembles the distributions of other invasive species on the island - e. g. those of Monomorium floricola, Monomorium pharaonis, Tapinoma melanocephalum, Technomyrmex albipes, Trichomyrmex destructor. While Pheidole punctulata spinosa has established a broad distribution range across the island's variable habitats and elevations, Pheidole megacephala, like the other invasives, is found mostly along the coast, in low elevation and disturbed habitats or near human settlements. Similar to Wheeler's observation, our argument for the " out-of-Africa " hypothesis is an overall much higher complexity in different morphotypes and species-level diversity in African megacephala group taxa and the presence of both, very closely, but also more distantly related taxa (e. g Pheidole aurivillii Mayr). For these reasons and for the purposes of this study, we consider all records from Africa to represent the native range of Pheidole megacephala. However, a further resolution will require a comprehensive phylogeographic study of the species and its allied taxa, especially from the poorly studied and sampled African region. Populations of Pheidole megacephala recorded from the southwestern extent of the Arabian Peninsula are treated as native as this region is commonly considered as belonging to the Afrotropics. However, recent studies on generic distributions of global ant diversity that find little support for including any portion of the Arabian Peninsula in the Afrotropics (unpublished data). Until robust phylogeographic data is available for Pheidole megacephala, this decision must be considered tentative and open to future revision. We do agree with Wetterer's (2012) conclusions that records of Pheidole megacephala from Mediterranean Europe northward are either temporary indoor records or misidentifications of Pheidole pallidula. Outside of Africa, the Malagasy region and the range of Pheidole pallidula (western Palearctic), Pheidole megacephala is easily recognized as it does not co-occur with species of similar morphology. We therefore consider all records reviewed from outside the aforementioned regions as confirmed unless otherwise stated.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
C3CE2D802CB143185B6A9E75135FB346.taxon	distribution	Distribution. The precise native range of Pheidole navigans is unknown, but it is certainly of Neotropical origin. The record of the species from the Parana region of South America suggests it could be South America. We tentatively treat both known South American records (Paraguay and Venezuela) as native, and the Mexican record as introduced, but other scenarios are equally possible. Pheidole navigans was first reported as introduced in the United States by M. R. Smith (1967) under the name Pheidole moerens. The name Pheidole moerens has since been applied to North American records from Alabama (Glancey et al. 1976; Smith 1967), California (Garrison 1996; Martinez 1997), Florida (Deyrup et al. 1988; Deyrup et al. 2000; Wojcik et al. 1975), Louisiana (Dash and Hooper-Bui 2008), Mississippi (MacGown and Hill 2010), North Carolina (Guenard et al. 2012) and Texas (Wilson 2003). We tentatively treat all of these records as Pheidole navigans, but the California and Texas records could also belong to another species in the flavens complex. In the Pacific, Pheidole navigans is established in Hawaii (Gruner et al. 2003). We cannot confirm whether the Pheidole moerens records from Cocos Island (Solomon and Mikheyev 2005) or the indoor records from a butterfly house in the northwestern United States (collection code KRW 26 Feb 99) refers to Pheidole navigans or another member of the flavens complex.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
CC7B768F847F396BDA90C282D57D4088.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole noda is considered native across mainland Asia, occurring from western India east to Japan. Forel (1903) reported the species from the Andaman Islands but it was not recovered during a more recent survey of the islands (Mohanraj et al. 2010). There is geographic disjunction between the mainland Asia population and the populations from the southern islands of Indonesia. The majors of the Indonesian taxon, originally described as Pheidole treubi Forel, were considered a distinct population by (Eguchi 2001 b), but conspecific with Pheidole noda. Although not included on the map, if verified, the records from the Russian Far East (Kupianskaia 1990) would be the most northern extent of the native range. The dispersive capacity of Pheidole noda is demonstrated by its colonization of Volcano Island (Nishino-shima Island), which is 22 ha in size and located 1,000 km south of mainland Japan. The island erupted in 1973, virtually eradicating all life. Pheidole noda was the only ant species discovered during the 1983 survey, and was one of only two discovered during the 2004 survey (the other being Tetramorium bicarinatum). The only confirmed record of Pheidole noda occurring outside of its putative native range is from a glasshouse in Italy (Limonta and Colombo 2003), where it was found together with Pheidole megacephala and Tetramorium bicarinatum on nursery plants imported from Asia. The species was also found on plant material imported from Asia and intercepted at quarantine facilities in Washington and Hawaii.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
8EBEF84D7CB258DFD1ADE89D91D60B8E.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole obscurithorax is presumed native to the South American region of Argentina, Paraguay and southern Brazil that includes the Paraguay, La Plata and Parana Rivers. This flood-prone area is the cradle of many other well-known invasive ants including fire ants (Solenopsis invicta Buren and Solenopsis richteri Forel), the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), and many lesser-known species that were anthropogenically introduced (King and Tschinkel 2007; Storz and Tschinkel 2004; Suarez and Tsutsui 2008; Wilson 2003). Most of these species, including Pheidole obscurithorax, were first introduced to North America via the Mobile, Alabama shipping port pathway. Pheidole obscurithorax was introduced to Mobile, Alabama around 1950 (Naves 1985) and subsequently expanded its range to include Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas (Storz and Tschinkel 2004; Wilson 2003). Additional occurence records, including the first record for Bolivia, were published (Wetterer et al. 2015) just as this manuscript was going to press, and were not included in the present study.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
640A5224C4170AB60B9335D41B6190E6.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole parva is considered here as native to the Indo-Malay region. The species is recorded from the Asian mainland from India east to China. We consider the records from Indonesia, Borneo, the Philippines and Taiwan to be native, but much of this distribution could represent a more recent anthropogenic expansion. We consider the records from the Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures of Japan to be introduced along with the records from Palau to represent introduced populations, but it is difficult to know whether the species arrived in these islands before, with or after the arrival of humans. The species is introduced in the Seychelles, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (Fischer and Fisher 2013). Pheidole parva was also collected from hothouses in Austria and Germany.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
00B3E1BF609BB512110653C565F3B443.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole proxima Mayr is native to Queensland, Australia. The sparse records of the species are scattered from Cape York at the northernmost tip of the continent down to the Gold Coast. The species is introduced to New Zealand and was first detected during a 2004 survey of the Port of Napier following an incursion of Solenopsis invicta (Green and Gunawardana 2006). The species is now widespread across the North Island from the Napier-Hastings area to Auckland.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
D3A294CE7E42819D4D24ECC9E6A913CF.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole punctatissima is considered here as broadly native to the Neotropics from southern Mexico to northern South America. We tentatively treat the Caribbean records as native but these might represent more recent human-mediated dispersal events. The records from southern Brazil, reported at least in part from 10 different urban centers (Lutinski et al. 2013), have not been verified with specimen examination. Should the records refer to Pheidole punctatissima Mayr and not one of its many morphologically similar congeners we would consider this to be an introduced population. Indoor colonies were found in Denmark and Norway (Birkemoe and Aak 2008).	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
ED714072331727DDA4F6B00604F66699.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole rugosula is believed to be native to the New South Wales region of Australia. The only country where the species has established is New Zealand (Berry et al. 1997). Berry et al. (1997) published museum records of Pheidole rugosula from New Zealand. The first known occurrence of Pheidole rugosula in New Zealand is from Takapuna, where it was collected in 1958 and it had reached Auckland by 1963. Since then it has been found across the Auckland and Waikato regions.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
23E1F8ADFCD1348629E67D6240A4B5BB.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Pheidole vigilans is considered endemic to the south eastern corner of Australia (Brown 1971). Heterick et al. (2013) reported Pheidole vigilans as introduced to Perth in Western Australia. The species was first collected outside of Australia in Kerikeri, New Zealand in 1956, and remains the least frequently collected Pheidole species in New Zealand (Berry et al. 1997; Cumber 1959). Although Pheidole ampla subsp. norfolkensis Wheeler was originally described as endemic to the Norfolk Islands, Brown (1971) later proposed that the species was introduced to those islands.	en	Sarnat, Eli M., Fischer, Georg, Guenard, Benoit, Economo, Evan P. (2015): Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543: 1-109, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.543.6050
