SUBFAMILY MYRMICINAE - Genus Pheidole - provisional key to soldiers of all African species
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The Ants of Africa SUBFAMILY MYRMICINAE - Genus Pheidole - provisional key to soldiers of all African species |
| Genus Pheidole Introduction |
I
have attempted (2003-4) to compile a key to those species for which I have
sufficiently detailed descriptions and/or have illustrations. Two very old
keys exist - Mayer (1896) for a few species; and Arnold (1920a) for
Southern Africa. The latter provided the drawing (right) of key anatomical
features. Now the term propodeum is used rather than epinotum; and I use
the term "welt" rather than scutellum.
Like Wilson (2003), who now has recognised 624 species from the Americas, only two of which, megacephala and teneriffana, are of Old World origin, I have not used the old subgenus separations. However, following the key to subgenera in Wheeler (1922), what I call the teneriffana-group might match the Subgenus Scrobopheidole Emery - "head of soldier dull, densely sculptured all over; last joint of funiculus not longer than the preceding two joints together". Otherwise, there is the blanket, catch-all, Subgenus Pheidole sensu strictu - which clearly has no use for all the variations recorded below.
Bolton (1995) does not separate species into the subgenera (unlike for Camponotus) and refers to Brown (1973b) as having synonymized all the then subgenera under Pheidole.
Provisional key to species and separable forms
| ¤ | Status dubious | Guinea - guineensis |
| ¤ | Worker only - description inadequate | South Africa - irritans |
| ¤ | Queen and male only known | Zaïre - neokohli |
| ¤ | Worker only, description dubious | Senegal - pallidelutea |
| ¤ | West African & Congo Basin records dubious | Madagascar - picata |
| ¤ | Brief description of worker or soldier - TL 3.75 mm; colour rufo-piceus, gaster darker; metanotum strongly rugose, propodeal spines acute | Kenya - scabriuscula |
| 1 |   Soldier
with postpetiole wider than long; trapezoidal but variably dentate at
widest point - extremes shown right |
5 |
| -- |  Soldier
with postpetiole not or hardly wider than long, only rounded or slightly
angled at sides |
2 |
| . | rugaticeps-group - concinna, rugaticeps, tenuinodis & victoris | -- |
| 2 | Soldier occiput with transverse striation | 3 |
| -- | Soldier occiput near smooth and shining | 4 |
| 3 | Soldier TL 5.3 mm; postpetiole about twice as long as wide and with a moderate, rounded, lateral angle; head with very fine puncturation/shagreening (much finer than rugaticeps), background of underlying longitudinal striation which becomes oblique posterior to the eyes angling outwards to occipital corners; erect pilosity yellowish, long and quite abundant all over, longer and denser on the head than in rugaticeps; colour alitrunk dark red; head, funiculs & mandible lighter; border of mandibles, anterior of clypeus, scapes, summit of pedicel nodes and gaster blackish; femora brown, tibiae and tarsi yellowish brown | Congo - concinna |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 5-6.5 mm, HW 3 mm; postpetiole scarcely wider than long, with a
moderate, rounded, lateral angle; sides of head striate to occiput in a
straight longitudinal manner; ferruginous, gaster fuscous |
Sahel zone - rugaticeps |
| 4 | Soldier TL 4.5 mm; anterior three-fifths of head, strongly and longitudinally striate; colour of head and alitrunk dark yellowish-red, propodeal spines and lateral propodeum dark brown, gaster brown but basally paler; postpetiole subglobose, feebly convexly angled laterally, narrowed behind, 75% wider than petiole and about as long as wide | Southern Africa - tenuinodis |
| -- | Soldier TL 4.2-4.5 mm; postpetiole almost twice as wide as petiole, about 25% wider than long, sides obtusely angled at the widest mid-point; head dull except posterior quarter which is microscopically rugulose and slightly shining; colour very similar to tenuinodis | Zimbabwe - victoris |
 |
Soldier with postpetiole wider than long; trapezoidal but variably dentate at widest point | -- |
| 5 |  Soldier
head widest at anterior margin; soldier TL 4.0 mm; overall dark brown,
appendages lighter; erect pilosity yellowish |
arnoldi-group - Zimbabwe - arnoldi |
| ¤ | Worker only described; may be synonymous with arnoldi - | Eritrea (Ethiopia) - clavata |
| -- | Soldier head widest at mid-point or posteriorly | 6 |
| . | Soldier head widest at mid-point or posteriorly | -- |
| 6 |   Soldier
alitrunk with low or no mesonotal welt; occipital border relatively
shallowly concave; head rarely with sculpturation on occiput |
34 |
| -- |  Soldier
alitrunk with transverse mesonotal welt, often but not always prominent |
7 |
| 7 |  Soldier
with petiole from above a simple elongated ellipse, with rounded dorsal
profile, postpetiole about twice as wide as long. |
15 |
| -- |  Soldier
with frontal carinae short, with no scrobes; postpetiole about three
times as wide as long and laterally produced, dentiform or spinose;
minor with nuchal collar (?) |
8 |
| -- |  Soldier
with postpetiole from above smoothly ovoid; TL 3.42 mm HL 1.18 HW 1.12;
appears to be completely unique in having the frontal carinae excavated
so as to expose the base of the scape and the torus; the scape itself
has a well developed basal expansion or flange; scapes and frontal
carinae reaching three-quarter point of face; antennal scrobes while
superficial quite distinct; propodeum with sharp lateral margination and
quite deeply longitudinally concave; with large distinctive propodeal
spiracle; |
West Africa - Pheidole species E |
| . | . | -- |
| 8 | Soldier HL distinctly > HW | 9 |
| -- | Soldier HL similar to if not < HW | 13 - capensis
group - capensis, cuitensis (possibly), rohani and sculpturata |
| 9 |  Soldier
TL 7.0-8.5 mm; head with distinctive transverse striation on occiput |
East Africa - liengmei |
| -- | Soldier head without transverse striation on occiput | 10 |
| . | spinulosa-group - njassae, schultzei, spinulosa and xocensis | -- |
| 10 | Soldier TL 6.75 mm HL 3.0 HW 2.5; propodeal spines as long as interbasal width; most of head and body matt; colour dark red-brown, appendages and gaster blackish | Tanzania - njassae |
| -- | Soldier TL no more than 6.0 mm | 11 |
| 11. |  Soldier
TL 5.0-5.6 mm; head rounded trapezoid, HL > HW, narrowed in front,
sides convex; colour essentially yellowish-brown |
. |
| . |  |
Southern Africa - spinulosa |
| -- | Soldier head with parallel sides | 12 |
| 12 |  Soldier
TL 5.0-6.0 mm HL 2.4 HW 2.15 mm; head rectangular sides near straight;
colour yellowish-red, gaster and scapes more brown |
Southern Africa - schultzei |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 4.9-5.4 mm, HL 25% > HW; head sides parallel, although slightly
convex; colour dark castaneous red to more brown, mandibles bright
castaneous red; |
Zimbabwe - xocensis |
|
Soldier
HL similar to if not < HW capensis group - capensis, cuitensis (possibly), katonae, rohani and sculpturata |
-- |
| 13 |   Soldier
TL 5.0-5.8 mm; head dark red to piceous, alitrunk yellowish-red, gaster
yellowish-brown; |
Southern Africa - capensis also cuitensis |
| -- | Soldier TL > 7.0 | 14 |
| 14 |  Soldier
TL 7.0-9.0 mm, HL 2.5-2.9 = HW; head matt, with very fine reticulation;
colour dark red-brown, gaster darker |
Angola - rohani |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 9.5 mm HL 3.8 mm; but smaller varieties; head with puncturate
sculpturation, median occipital weakly sculptured to smooth; mesonotal
welt only moderately developed; postpetiole about three times as wide as
long; legs and antennae clothed with erect pubescence |
Pan-(sub-Saharan)Africa - sculpturata |
| -- | Soldier TL 8.7-9 mm; sculpturation much finer, giving opaque appearance on alitrunk and pedicel; pubescence and pilosity slightly appressed; dull brown, appendages and anterior of petiole reddish | north-east Africa & Saudi Arabia - katonae |
|
Soldier postpetiole with blunt lateral processes | - |
| 15 | Soldier head completely striate | 25 |
| -- | Soldier head with striations confined to anterior and short frontal carinae | 16 |
| 16 | Soldier head parallel-sided | 17 |
| -- | Soldier head ovoid or cordiform, widest at mid-point | 19 |
| . | - variolosa-group - akermani, aeberlii and variolosa | -- |
| 17 |  Soldier
TL 4.6-4.9 mm; propodeal spines short and triangular; colour dark
castaneous brown, posterior of head, alitrunk and petiole redder |
South Africa - akermani |
| -- | Soldier TL at least 5.3 mm | 18 |
| 18 |  Soldier
TL 7.0 mm HL 3.02 HW 2.15 mm; alitrunk rugose, humeri with tubercules;
propodeal spines short; postpetiole laterally angular, with transverse
striations; basal segment of gaster striate-punctate; dull ferruginous |
. |
| . |  |
Somalia & Gabon - variolosa |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 6.0 mm; colour rust brown, gaster, scape and femora dark brown |
Sahel zone - aeberlii |
| . | . | -- |
| 19 | Soldier head ovoid, as narrow behind as in front | 20 |
| -- | Soldier head cordiform, widest point behind mid-point but posterior wider than anterior | 21 |
| . | buchholzi-group (part) - buchholzi and hewitti | -- |
| 20 |  Soldier
TL 5.2 mm, HL one-sixth greater than HW; alitrunk dorsum with weak
transverse striation, otherwise alitrunk and pedicel nodes densely but
superficially reticulo-punctate; erect hairs irregularly spaced on
entire body, all over long pubescence, especially abundant on gaster and
appendages; colour medium red-brown, with posterior 3/4 of head, dorsum
of alitrunk darker, anterior of head and mandibles redder. appendages
yellow-brown |
South Africa - hewitti |
| -- | Soldier TL 6.8 mm; head longer than wider, narrowest behind; scape reaches beyond mid-point; colour reddish or lighter yellowish | West Africa & Congo Basin - buchholzi |
| . | speculifera-group - aspera, kohli, occipitalis, speculifera and vanderveldi | -- |
| 21 |  Soldier
TL 5.0 mm; head shape undefined; head dull, anterior striate, posterior
obliquely and finely rugose, rugosity on dorsal alitrunk tranverse;
colour yellowish-brown |
. |
| . |  |
South Africa - aspera |
| -- | TL > 5.0 mm | 22 |
| 22 | TL 7.0 mm | 23 |
| -- | TL > 7.0 mm | 24 |
| 23 |  Soldier
TL 7.0 mm; head with no more than weak longitudinal striations
anteriorly, occiput with matt appearance; postpetiole near hexagonal in
dorsal view |
. |
| . |  |
Pan-African - speculifera |
| -- | Soldier TL 7.0 mm; similar to speculifera but scape extending back to posterior third of head; HL much greater than HW; sides of head only slightly convex; colour dark brown, legs paler, tarsi and funiculus rusty red | Southern Africa - vanderveldi |
| 24 |  Soldier
TL 7.5 mm HL 3.0 HW 2.7; erect pilosity sparse but yellow pubescence
abundant; shiny, red-brown, antennae and legs lighter |
Kenya, Tanzania & Zaïre - kohli |
| -- | Soldier TL 7.5-8.0 mm; HL slightly greater than HW; sides of head feebly arcuate; sparse erect hairs, no pubescence; head and alitrunk brownish-red, rest darker blackish-brown | West Africa - occipitalis |
|
Soldier head completely striate | -- |
| 25 |  Soldier
TL 5.3; head matt with occipitum shiny, regular striation, longitudinal
in anterior two-thirds, becoming finer and converging towards occiput
where they are transverse; overall dark brown, gaster blackish |
Mali - andrieui (in buchholzi-group) |
| -- |  Soldier
head completely longitudinally striate, with distinct shallow antennal
scrobes and longitudinal rugae for full length; mandibles with two short
apical teeth; antennal scapes slender, reaching to two-thirds length of
face, club relatively long and slender, segments 10-12 equal in length
to 2-9. Propodeal spines at least moderate and quite sharp. Minors with
head more or less ovoid in full face view, with prominent convex eyes |
26 |
| 26 |  Soldier
with head not concave behind the eyes; TL ca 4.5 mm; antennal scrobes
reaching posterior quarter of head |
26A |
| -- |  Soldier
with head concave behind the eyes (i.e. with a depression in the
occipital profile) |
27 |
| . | teneriffana group - pusilla and teneriffana | -- |
| 26A |  TL
ca 3.8-4.0 mm; CI 94 SI 61 EI 19; head with longitudinal striations
reaching the occiput; these striations often strongly marked; frontal
carinae reaching the posterior quarter of the head and antennal scrobes
distinct; metanotum raised into a strong welt, metanotal groove wide;
propodeal spines robust; note the colour is quite variable |
North African tramp - teneriffana |
| -- |  TL
4.23 mm; head striate, with occiput impressed; clypeal margin and the
mandibular apical margin are black; the antennae and legs are light
yellow; the alitrunk and pedicel slightly lighter brown than the head;
the gaster with the same colour at the base and apex, but the second and
third segment black brown |
Madeira - pusilla |
| -- |  TL
ca 3.8 mm; antennal scapes almost reaching occiput with scrobes to
match; mesonotal welt distinct but not highly raised; petiole with
distinctive sloping ovoid profile; fewer but thicker erect hairs -
probably identical with pusilla |
Cameroun - species Cameroon 73 |
| . | teneriffana group - areniphila, caffra, dea, mayri, nimba, prelli, pulchella, sinaitica and Cameroon 73 | -- |
| 27 |  Soldier
with propodeal spines no more than moderately long (ca two-thirds of
space betweeen bases), sharp and upturned |
28 |
| -- |  Soldier
with propodeal spines long and (mostly) relatively blunt apically |
29 |
| 28 |  Soldier
TL 4.5 mm; head barely longer than wide, median line of head distinct
but with a wide surrounding impression; sculpture of head a fundamental
reticulate puncturation with superimposed trenchant rugae, very regular
on the frons, extending with frontal carinae to posterior quarter of the
head, on the occiput the rugae are intermixed with puncturation and
large piligerous foveae; colour ferruginous dull, gaster piceous and
shining |
Southern & possibly eastern Africa - caffra |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 4-4.5 mm; occiput with distinct transvers rugae; with propodeal
spines no more than moderately long, triangular, sharp and upturned;
colour dark red-brown, gaster near black and wholly shiny |
West Africa & Congo Basin - bayeri |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 4.4-4.8 mm (5.76 mm Nigeria specimens); propodeum with long thin
spines; postpetiole very broad and rounded, with transparent hind part
of the lateral margin, but much wider than long and ventrally with a
small tooth; head markedly rugose all over, more reticulate on the
occiput; alitrunk dorsum transversely faintly rugose, spiculate on
lateral mesonotum, propodeum and pedicel; basal half of the first
gastral segment barely shiny, finely reticulate and spaciously
longitudinally striate; dark red-brown, gaster near black |
. |
| . |  |
West Africa & Congo Basin - mayri |
| TL greater up to 4.7 mm; sides of head more convex in full face view; postpetiole with globular profile | southern Africa - areniphila | |
| 29 |  Soldier
postpetiole globose; TL ca 4 mm; CI 100 SI 65 EI 18; colour brownish-red
or more yellow; funiculus segments 2-5 longer than wide; head striated
up to the occiput with scapes reaching back to the same level; only the
posterior corners of the head forwards to the deepest outside edge of
the posterior edge of the head are smooth; clypeus with sharp median
carina; postpetiole spherical and not laterally widened, in profile an
obliquely angled oval (upper posterior apex rearmost); |
Egypt - sinaitica |
| -- | Soldier postpetiole hexagonal in dorsal view | 30 |
| 30 |  Soldier
head in full face view with straight sides and distinctly narrower
anteriorly |
32 |
| -- |  Soldier
head in full face view with arcuate sides and only slightly narrower
anteriorly; |
33 |
| 32 |  Soldier
TL 3.7-4.2 mm; overall rust-red; gaster yellower, more brown in
posterior half; mandibles and scapes brown rust; lower legs and funiculi
yellowish. |
East Africa - prelli |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 5.0-5.5 mm; propodeal spines long and distinctly down curved in
profile; overall rich ferruginous red; clypeus and borders of mandibles
black; legs and antennae paler and more yellowish red |
Congo Basin - pulchella |
| 33 |  Soldier
TL 4.0-4.5 mm; colour deep piceous, almost black; propodeal spines long
and slightly downcurved.. Minor - overall shiny with reduced
sculpturation, erect hairs coarse and relatively sparse; head in full
face view near circular; propodeal spines long and near straight. |
West Africa & Congo Basin - (species D) dea |
| -- |  Soldier
- TL 4.25-4.7 mm; colour very deep red-brown; antennae very small with
even shorter scapes. Minor very dark spiculate all over; head in full
face view near square (species Cameroon 126b) |
Ivory Coast & Cameroun - Pheidole ingenita new status |
| -- | Minor only known - head entirely matt, covered with large regular reticulation, erect hairs slender, yellowish; clypeus carinate with carina extended forward beyond clypeal margin | Guinea - nimba |
|
Soldier mesonotum without a transverse welt or torus | -- |
| 34 | Soldier head longer than wide by at least 25% | 35 |
| -- | Soldier head width and length equal or near equal; if greater then with convex sides | 42 |
| 35 |  Soldier
head longer than wide by at least 25%; sides mildly convex in full face
view; mandibles very stout with dentate border and distinct apical
teeth; clypeus with at least a shallow central notch and lateral carinae
extending forward; postpetiole hexagonal, with distinct lateral
prominences. Minor head square. Both major and minor with relatively
swollen three-segmented club |
36 |
| -- |  Soldier
head longer than wide by at least 25%, straight sided in full face view;
mandibles very stout edentate border and without apical teeth; clypeus
with median carina but anterior margin no more than medially concave;
postpetiole with distinct lateral prominences produced as broad to acute
spines. Minor head square. Major and minor with relatively slender
three-segmented club - |
39 |
| . | termitophila-group - bequaerti, miniscula, nigritella, schoutedeni, strator & termitophila | -- |
| 36 |  Soldier
Colour black; head with strange lateral profile; TL 3.6-3.8 mm; probable
synonymy |
Zaïre - bequaerti; Guinea - nigritella |
| -- | Colour other than black; soldier head with normal profile | 37 |
| 37 |  Small
species (among the smallest of the genus), soldier TL < 3.0 mm;
colour of head and alitrunk dark yellow, rest paler |
Guinea - miniscula |
| -- | Soldier TL > 3.0 mm | 38 |
| 38 |  Soldier
TL 3.4-3.5 mm; colour generally pale yellow-brown |
Sahel zone - termitophila |
| -- |  Soldier
(ssp fugax) TL 3.8-4.0 mm HL 1.5 times HW; vertex only
longitudinally striate; colour head reddish-brown, alitrunk and gaster
very dark-brown (type lighter?) |
Eastern Africa - strator |
|
Soldier
head longer than wide by at least 25%, straight sided in full face view - excellens-group - excellens (species F995), mylognatha, retronitens, weissi, species T4 & species T5 |
-- |
| 39 |  Soldier
TL ca 8 mm; propodeal spines of soldier relatively long, stout and
upturned; petiole with a markedly emarginate narrow dorsal face;
postpetiole strongly produced laterally to form a blunt triangular
process. Colour red-brown, dull due to dense puncturation and abundant
covering of moderately long, semi-prone, fine hairs. |
Pan-African - excellens |
| -- | TL 7.2 mm; mostly brown-black, head reddish with a frontal yellowish-red band, tibiae and scapes brown-yellow, tarsi & funiculi yellowish gaster segments with posterior border yellowish | Congo Basin & Nigeria - weissi |
| -- | Soldier TL < 7.0 mm | 40 |
| 40 |  Soldier
TL 6.2 mm; head relatively shiny especially on occiput; with sparse
whitish fine erect hairs; postpetiole broader than long, its sides
produced as short, acute, backwardly directed spines, the distance
between the tips of which is about three times the width of the petiole |
Zaïre - mylognatha |
| -- | Soldier TL < 6.0 mm | 41 |
| 41 |  Soldier
TL 4.5 mm; quite distinctive, especially the elongated head with a
bulging occiput when viewed in profile. Colour head brown, body darker
posteriorly to a near black gaster, tarsi yellow. Erect hairs long, fine
and abundant. |
. |
| . |  |
Zaïre & Nigeria - schoutedeni |
|
Soldier HL near equal to HW | -- |
| 42 |  Soldier
head fully striate and parallel-sided; postpetiole squamiform
(with anterior ventral process, smaller process on anterior ventral
petiole); funiculi filiform |
43 |
| -- | Soldier head never fully striate and with at least weakly convex sides | 44 |
| ?? | Soldier TL 5.7 mm; head about a quarter longer than wide but with convex sides; scapes narrow but reach posterior third of the head; propodeal spines strong, blunt, about as long as half the propodeum dorsum and erect; and occipital lobes very smooth and shiny but rest of head densely reticulate and matt; colour black-brown; anterior of head and appendages lighter red-brown to yellow-brown | Zaïre - retronitens |
| - | saxicola-group - philippi & saxicola - soldier head fully striate and parallel-sided | -- |
| 43 |  Soldier
TL 5.5-6.0 mm; colour dark ferruginous red, extremities darker brown to
blackish |
Zaïre - saxicola |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 3.5-3.8 mm HL 1.2 HW 1.0; clypeus witout a distinct median carina,
all striations on front of head straight; colour mahogany red,
extremities more brown |
Ethiopia & Central African Republic - philippi |
| . | soldier head never fully striate and not parallel-sided | . |
| 44 |   Soldier
head cordiform (heart-shaped); propodeal spines upturned, stout and
blunt; postpetiole profile globular, in dorsal view wider than long,
hexagonal with rounded lateral prominences |
45 |
| -- |   Soldier
head in full-face view with only moderately convex sides; mandibles
relatively slender, with at most reduced teeth or denticles; funiculus
segments quadrate; postpetiole trapezoidal but without elongated lateral
prominences, ventrally concave, giving profile a somewhat globular
appearance |
46 |
| - | crassinoda-group - aurivilli, costauriensis, crassinoda, impressifrons, melancholica & punctulata | -- |
| 45 | Colour dark brown to black | 45A |
| -- | Colour lighter | 45B |
| 45A |  Soldier
much smaller TL 4.3 mm; posterior of head striate and matt, except for
shiny areas on vertex; black or very dark brown with anterior of head
and sides of mesonotum red-brown |
West Africa - melancholica |
| -- |  Soldier
moderately large, TL ca 7.0 mm; petiole profile narrow & squamous,
postpetiole from above with arcuate anterior margin and obtuse lateral
angles; sparse pilosity; piceous (pitch black) with anterior of head and
coxae dull ferruginous |
. |
| . |  minor
to show colour |
Eastern & Southern Africa - crassinoda |
| 45B |  Soldier
very large TL > 5.3 mm - 8.0 mm; head mostly smooth, dorsum shiny;
dark red-brown, gaster and anterior of head with mandibles darker |
. |
| . |  |
West Africa - costauriensis |
| -- | TL no more than 5 mm | 45C |
| 45C | Colour brown | 45D |
| -- | Colour yellow to yellow brown | 45E |
| 45D |  Soldier
head widest in posterior fourth; TL 5.8-6.2 mm HL 2.3 HW 2.0 |
. |
| -- |  |
Southern & eastern Africa - rotundata |
| -- |  Soldier
much smaller TL < 5.0 mm; colour brown to testaceous, appendages not
significantly different |
. |
| . |  |
South Africa, Nigeria & Cameroun - impressifrons |
| 45E |   Soldier
TL 4.2-4.5 mm; in profile anterior of head deeper than posterior;
promesonotum with very convex profile; propodeal teeth small directed
backwards and upwards; pilosity sparse of long yellowish semi-erect
hairs; mandibles and posterior of head very shiny, rest less so due to
reticulo-striation; colour dark reddish-brown to light brownish-red,
head always darker than alitrunk; |
Pan-African - punctulata |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 4.6-5.0 mm; occipitum matt with rugulo-reticulation; dorsum of
propodeum a third longer than wide; soldier and minor brown with reddish
appendages (originally mistaken for punctulata by Mayr). |
West Africa & Congo Basin - aurivillii |
|
Soldier
head in full-face view with only moderately convex sides megacephala-group - albidula, aurivilli, corticola, jordanica, maufei, megacephala, mentita, minima, nigeriensis (species B), nkomoana (species E), pallidula, picata, rotundata, squalida, tricarinata, and species A |
-- |
| 46 |  Soldier
TL < 3.4 mm; alitrunk profile smoothly domed, as is propodeal
profile, propodeal spines reduced to sharp denticles |
47 |
| -- | Soldier TL > 3.4 mm | 52 |
| - | minima-subgroup - corticicola, decarinata, minima, nigeriensis (species B), tricarinata, and species A | -- |
| 47 | Soldier with scapes and frontal carinae not or barely reaching midpoint of face | 48 |
| -- | Soldier with frontal carinae reaching at least mid-point or posterior one-third of face | 49 |
| 48 | Soldier TL 2.2 mm; HL 20% > HW; frontal carinae very divergent and only one-quarter of length of scape, no scrobes, scape surpasses mid-point of face; head with fine and somewhat spaced longitudinal striations which reach occipital border, rest of body mostly smooth; colour mostly pale yellow, anterior of clypeus and mandibles darker | Guinea - tricarinata |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 2.89 mm; scape length only 0.4 of HL; dorsum of head and entire
alitrunk densely spiculate in the minor, but head only faintly spiculate
in the soldier; propodeal spines of soldier short and acute; erect hairs
moderately abundant; colour orange, gaster very dark brown. |
West Africa (& Kenya?) - species A |
| -- | Soldier TL 3.2 mm; frontal carinae short and not forming scrobes, scape not reaching posterior third of head; promesonotum smoothly convex without any impression or welt, truncate behind and margined on each side; sculpturation limited to anterior striations on head and a few striations and reticulations on lateral propodeum (minor similar); erect pilosity yellowish sparse on body and absent from tibiae and scapes; colour brownish-yellow, legs and antennae dirty yellow | South Africa - kitschneri |
| 49 | Soldier with scapes and/or frontal carinae not surpassing two-thirds of face | 50 |
| -- | Soldier with scapes and frontal carinae reaching at least posterior quarter of face | 51 |
| 50 |   Soldier
TL 2.0-2.2-2.4 mm; HL greater than minima; frontal carinae and
scape reaching the posterior third of face and carinae delimiting
shallow scrobes; smooth and shiny, head except vertex and sides of
alitrunk matt, finely granulo-punctate with longitudinal striations of
lateral alitrunk (as minima); erect pilosity quite long and
quite abundant; colour yellow with brownish tinge |
West Africa - [species B] nigeriensis |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 3.2-3.4 mm HL 12-20% greater than HW; head with quite strongly
scalloped occipitum, sides convex, frontal notch deep and contiguous
with occipital groove, clypeus without a median carina; frontal carina
very divergent and as wide apart as long, hardly reaching mid-point of
face, scape reaches posterior third of head; pronotum with angular
sides, propodeum with dorsum and declivity strongly bordered; head
mostly smooth and shiny; body with long erect hairs, irregularly spaced
but abundant; colour red-brown, gaster darker |
Sahel zone - decarinata |
| 51 | Soldier TL 3.0 mm HL slightly > HW; frontal carinae reach the posterior quarter of the head; sides of head very convex; head striate in anterior three-quarter, smooth posteriorly; colour yellow-red to dull brown-red, anterior of head brown-black; with abundant long erect pilosity all over | West Africa & Congo Basin - corticicola |
| -- |  Soldier
with antennal scapes almost reaching occipital border; TL 2.1 mm (ssp
faurei TL 2.5-2.7 mm); HL > HW; colour red-yellow or
brown-yellow |
West Africa & Congo Basin - minima |
|
Soldier
TL > 3.3 mm megacephala-subgroup - albidula, foreli, jordanica, maufei, megacephala, mentita, nkomoana (species E), pallidula, rotundata, squalida, and (unseparable beyond this point) picata picata (may be only known from Madagascar) |
-- |
| 52 |  Soldier
TL 2.6-3.1 mm; frontal carinae reaching posterior quarter of head; eyes
more obviously convex; pronotum with more pronounced lateral tubercles;
propodeum with sharp lateral margination; abundant long fine pilosity;
colour a little darker than megacephala |
Congo Basin - nkomoana |
| -- |  Soldier
with quite short frontal carinae |
53 |
| 53 |  Soldier
with relatively long narrow propodeal spines; TL 4.0-4.3 mm; head and
alitrunk dull with fairly close reticulation, on head latter overlaid
with coarse rugose reticulation; pilosity yellowish, pubescence sparse
to nil on body, long oblique on appendages; colour dark yellowish-brown
to brownish-red |
Zimbabwe - maufei |
| -- | Soldier with short near triangular propodeal spines | 54 |
| 54 |  Soldier
uniquely with posterior border of basal two segments of gaster having a
row of triangular depressed tubercles, each giving rise to a long hair;
TL 4.0 mm; HL = HW, sides more convex than megacephala and
occiput more deeply scalloped, frontal carinae slightly longer than the
scape and with weak scrobe; head with frontal striations reaching
three-fifths point of face, most of alitrunk and pedicel finely
reticulo-punctate, some transverse irregular rugae on pronotal dorsum;
most of body pale rust yellow, head and scape darker, posterior of
gaster and most of legs whitish |
Cameroun & Zaïre - albidula |
| -- | Soldier with border of two basal segments of gaster without tubercles; head widest at about two-thirds of length | 55 |
| 55 | Soldier
(largest, as a range of sizes appears to be fairly common) head with
only shallow occipital scalloping; in profile occiput somewhat flattened |
56 |
| -- |  Soldier
head with deep occipital scalloping; in profile occiput smoothly convex |
57 |
| 56 |  Soldier
TL 3.5-4.5 mm variable; promesonotum profile quite a high dome;
propodeal spines acute and sharp but distinct; postpetiole profile with
distinct angular ventral process |
Pan-African tramp - megacephala |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 3.7-4.0 mm; CI 95 SI 70 EI 22; funiculus segments 2-5 length = width;
eyes twice as big as pallidula, head striated less far back so
that the scape reaches beyond the striations, clypeus with a weak median
that is not raised; postpetiole profile almost circular; (probably not
from sub-Saharan) |
. |
| , |  |
North Africa & Sudan - jordanica |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 4.0-4.5 mm; HL 1/5 > HW; head with distinctive reticulate
sculpturation; scapes reaching hind-third of head; alitrunk narrow and
slender; proportions of head and alitrunk like in pallidula and
sinaitica; propodeal teeth small; postpetiole twice as wide as
petiole, laterally blunt; pilosity as in caffra; mostly matt and
somewhat punctate; brownish-red, appendages brown, antennae dull yellow;
related to aurivilli |
Ethiopia - escherichii |
|
Head with quite deep occipital scalloping | -- |
| 57 | Soldier TL 3.4-3.9 mm | 58 |
| -- | Soldier TL at least 4.0 mm | 59 |
| 58 |  Soldier
TL 3.5 mm; head with quite strong longitudinal striations reaching the
occiput; other than striations head, like most of body smooth and shiny,
anterior pronotum, sides of propodeum and pedicel superficially
reticulo-punctate; whole of body with long fawn hairs; colour brown
yellow, centre of head and apical border of mandibles brown, anterior
half of gaster pale yellow rest brown black |
Congo - squalida |
| -- |  Soldier
TL 3.4-3.9 mm; CI 95 SI 60 EI 13; lateral propodeum and petiole smooth
and shiny; overall colour pale yellow-brown, gaster often with a
characteristic pattern of ill-defined dark blotches; (probably not from
sub-Saharan Africa); note, again not sub-Saharan there is a quite
well-defined dark form |
North Africa - pallidula |
| 59 | Soldier TL 4.0-4.2 mm; cf aurivilli, dorsum of propodeum twice as long as wide; matt, head more densely rugo-reticulose than aurivilli; colour reddish brown, postpetiole and gaster brownish black, extremities lighter yellowish or rust | Guinea - mentita |
| -- | Soldier TL 4.5-5.1 mm; colour piceous, appendages lighter | South Africa - foreli |
 |
MYRMICINAE Introduction | © 2007, 2008 - Brian Taylor CBiol
FIBiol FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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