Pheidole dea Santschi

Soldier - Minor - Type location Zaïre (Santschi, 1921c: 115, worker); senior synonym of batrachorum (Wheeler, 1922: 128, soldier & worker; synonymy by Santschi 1930a: 59); soldier and worker described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Santschi's (1921c) description of the soldier is at . Santschi (1923e: 277) noted the clypeus is smooth and not the propodeum as appeared in his 1921 description. Santschi (1939b: 243) stated the reasons for the synonymy, this is at .

Nigeria specimens (as Pheidole species D) - in my Ant Guide and earlier web versions.

Soldier - TL 5.6 mm, HL 1.80, HW 1.80, SL 1.18, PW 0.84
Minor - TL 3.39 mm, HL 0.86, HW 0.73, SL 0.98, PW 0.50
Colour very dark red-brown to black.
Soldier markedly rugose all over the dorsum of the head. Alitrunk faintly reticulorugose; the pedicel and gaster finely punctate. Propodeal spines long, slender, acute and slightly curved.
Minor almost unsculptured and shiny, with a faint reticulation on the propodeum and pedicel. Erect hairs coarse and relatively sparse. Propodeal spines long, slender and acute.
In Nigeria collected from dead wood on the ground and from the base of a cocoa tree at CRIN.

Found in Ghana cocoa at Kade by Majer (1975, 1976 b), using pkd, with two workers in a single sample.

Description by Wheeler (1922) of Pheidole batrachorum Wheeler, who did not list dea in his catalogue. Type location Akenge, Zaïre (Lang and Chapin).

SOLDIER - Length 4.5 to 5 mm. Allied to P. caffra Emery. Head a little longer than broad, scarcely narrowed in front, with straight sides and deeply excised posterior border, the vertex convex, the occipital region distinctly depressed, the occipital and frontal groove shallow. Eyes small, broadly elliptical, rather flat, at the anterior third of the sides of the head. Mandibles convex with bluntly bidentate tips. Clypeus flat, carinate, its anterior border notched in the middle. Frontal area small, subtriangular, deeply impressed, without median carinula. Frontal carinae not strongly diverging behind, prolonged backward as a pair of rugae to the posterior fifth of the head and forming the inner borders of flat, scrobe-like impressions for the antennae. The latter slender, their scapes distinctly flattened but not dilated at the base, extending to nearly half the distance between the eyes and the posterior corners of the head; club shorter than the remainder of the funiculus; joints 2 to 8 distinctly longer than broad. Pro- and mesonotum not separated by a suture, convex; humeri prominent; mesonotum with strong transverse torus; metanotal constriction very sharp and deep; propodeum broader than long, its base straight and horizontal, as long as the declivity, dorsally with a broad longitudinal groove; the spines acute, stout at the base, as long as the dorsum of the propodeum and as long as their distance apart, directed upward and somewhat backward and distinctly curved downward. Petiole twice as long as broad, scarcely broader behind than in front, with nearly straight sides; in profile with long, feebly concave anterior and short, vertical posterior surface to the node, the superior border transverse, sharp and feebly emarginate. Postpetiole nearly three times as broad as the petiole, broader than long, very convex and rounded above, the sides bluntly angular in the middle. Gaster smaller than the head, subcircular, its anterior border slightly truncated, the dorsal surface somewhat depressed. Legs long, femora thickened in the middle.

Subopaque; mandibles, clypeus, frontal area, and posterior half of gaster smooth and shining. Mandibles coarsely and sparsely punctate; coarsely rugose at the base. Clypeus very finely rugulose, especially on the sides. Head densely and finely, but not deeply punctate, longitudinally rugose, the rugae being rather widely separated and subsiding on the posterior fifth of the head; the posterior fourth also with a few large, shallow, elongate foveolae. Thorax, pedicel, and anterior half of gaster more opaque than the head, finely and densely punctate; the pronotum also finely and rather asymmetrically transversely rugulose. Metanotal constriction with sharp rugae; declivity transversely rugose above. Basal half of gaster with sparse elongate striations. Legs smooth and shining. Hairs coarse, pointed, fulvous, long and erect, lacking on the thorax and sides of the head, sparse on the pedicel and gaster and front of head; short and closely appressed on the legs and antennae. Deep piceous, almost black; mandibles, clypeus, cheeks, and appendages castaneous; the funiculi, tips of scapes, tibiae, tarsi, and articulations of the legs paler and more reddish.

WORKER - Length 3 to 3.5 mm. Head (without the mandibles) nearly circular, the occipital border strongly marginate. Eyes rather small but convex, just in front of the middle of the sides of the head. Mandibles long, deflected, their external borders concave, their tips with two prominent teeth, the remainder of the apical border finely denticulate. Antennae long and slender, the scapes extending fully one-third their length beyond the occipital border of the head. Clypeus rather flat in the middle, ecarinate, its anterior border entire and broadly rounded. Thorax resembling that of the soldier, but the humeri not prominent, the torus of the mesonotum is feebler, the propodeal spines are more slender, and distinctly shorter than the propodeal dorsum and more curved than in the soldier. Petiole more slender, the node lower, more conical, its superior border not emarginate, scarcely more than twice as long as broad. Postpetiole campanulate, as long as broad, broader behind than in front. Gaster elongate elliptical, with truncated anterior border, its dorsal surface convex. Legs long and slender.

Shining; mandibles very finely and densely striolate. Clypeus, head, thorax, and pedicel densely punctate or reticulate; the head somewhat smoother and more shining in the middle anteriorly; the sides of the pronotum smooth and polished; cheeks and sides of front with a few longitudinal rugulae. Base of first gastric segment sculptured much as in the soldier. Hairs less coarse than in the soldier, present also on the thorax; hairs on the legs and antennae longer and more abundant, on the scapes abundant and oblique. Colour very much like that of the soldier.

Described from four soldiers and twenty-one workers all taken from the stomachs of toads (Bufo polycercus and funereus) and frogs (Arthroleptis variabilis). This species is certainly distinct from caffra in the greater size and different shape of the head of the soldier, the long acute and curved propodeal spines and different shape of the thorax. It is evidently a Rain Forest insect, whereas caffra, seems to be confined to dry country.

The photomontages are collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0405366 (top) and
http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0405368 (bottom.
Collection details - Central African Republic: Prefecture Sangha-Mbaéré; Parc National Dzanga-Ndoki, Mabéa Bai, 21.4 km 53° NE Bayanga; 03°02'00"N 016°24'36"E 510m Collection Information: Collection codes: BLF4000. Date: 1-7 May 2001. Collected by: B.L.Fisher. Method: EC19 sifted litter. Habitat: rainforest Transect Type: MW 50 sample transect, 5m. Transect Sample No.: 03.