Pheidole sculpturata Mayr

Soldier - Minor - Type location South Africa (Mayr, 1866b: 897, soldier; Emery, 1895h: 31, worker); subspecies areolata (var. areolata n. var., Forel, 1911e: 269, soldier & worker), from South Africa, Bothaville, Orange State, collected by Dr Brauns; berthoudi (r. berthoudi n. st. Forel, 1894b: 89, soldier & worker) from South Africa, Valdezia, Transvaal, collector Rev Paul Berthoud; dignata (n. stirps, Santschi, 1915c: 250, soldier & worker) from Congo, collected at Gomba & Mandougo, by A. Weiss; particeps (var. particeps, n. var., Santschi, 1921c: 116, worker) from Tanzania, collected at Bukoba, by Viehmeyer; rhodesiana (Ph. excellens Mayr r. rhodesiana n. st., Forel, 1913a: 131, soldier & worker; Arnold, 1920a: 470, male; stirps of sculpturata, Santschi, 1930b: 63, footnote) from Zimbabwe, Bulawayoa, collector Arnold; zambesiana (Ph. sculpturata Mayr r. zambesiana n. st.,Forel, 1913a: 133, soldier & worker) from Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls, collected by G Arnold; and, welgelegenensis (r. welgelenensis n. st., Forel, 1913b: 327, soldier & worker; Forel, 1913h: 354, queen) from Zaïre, Welgelegen, Katanga, collected by J. Bequaert; all forms described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Mayr's (1866b) description is at . Emery's (1895h) description of the worker is at . Arnold (1920a: 461) gave an illustrated translation and notes on the worker, this is at . Forel's (1894b) description of berthoudi is at . Forel's (1911e) description of areolata is at . Forel's (1913b) description of welgelegenensis is at . Santschi's (1915c) description of dignata is at . Santschi's (1921c) description of particeps is at . Forel's (1913a) description of rhodesiana is at . Forel's (1913a) description of zambesiana is at . Arnold (1920a: 469) gave an illustrated translation of rhodesiana, this is at . Arnold (1920a: 464) gave a translation of zambesiana, this is at . Arnold (1920a: 463) gave translations of areolata and berthoudi, these are at .

Workers with the body very matt, and head near square (after Bernard, 1952). Collingwood & Agosti (1996) denote it as separable from teneriffana by the postpetiole being as three times as wide as long, and, the head with the median occipital area smooth. Legs and antennae clothed with erect pubescence. Note - they separated katonae as a separate species, in which the appendages have decumbent pubescence and the head sculpturation is weak and stated the earlier reference to sculpturata (by Collingwood, 1985) was an error.

Santschi's (1915c) description of dignata is -
SOLDIER - TL 5.5-5.8; head smaller than type, HL 2.4-2.5, HW 2; slightly more convex on sides. Thorax not so stout; mesonotum with a less raised ridge. Petiole node impressed, postpetiole with lateral spines longer and finer. Colour red brown, gaster brown; funiculus and tarsi yellow brown. Pilosity as type. Head more matt, with puncturate ground sculpture clear all over (effaced on the face of the type), occipital reticulation less clearly transverse; base of gaster more strongly puncturate.
MINOR - TL 2.4; slightly less sculptured than type on dorsum of thorax, front of head very shiny; propodeal spines longer. Black, appendages brown or yellow brown.
Specimens from Comba and Mandougo - Santschi has these as "French Congo" but Wheeler (1922) noted that such locations were not on any map. Modern gazetteers have a Mandougou in Guinea and Comba in Central Angola. The collector was A. Weiss, who otherwise made many collections around Brazzaville, Congo.

Forel (1911e) described areolata, the soldier he gave as TL 8 mm, HL 3, HW 2.6-2.7. The worker was TL 2.8 mm. From Bothaville, Orange Free State, by Dr Brauns.

In Ivory Coast, from Sudan savannah at Ferkéssédougou, and also from humid savannah (Lévieux, 1972, 1983a).

Bernard (1952) reported seven workers from N'Zo, Guinea, previously unknown from Guinea being a species of central Africa.

Forel (1909b) noted that Creighton Wellman collected specimens of berthoudi tending aphids in Benguela.

I have assigned the specimens in the photomontage to sculpturata; they were collected in Cameroun - 30 km east of Poli at a Sudan-Guinea savannah location (McKey Wolbachia project) - Cameroon 128, 15 June 2001. Other images can be seen in the folder at -

Minors only were collected. Colour very dark red-black, appendages lighter. The overall sculpturation is of dense spiculation, only the legs and scapes are shiny. The face has underlying longitudinal rugae and the dorsal alitrunk has an underlying rugoreticulum. In full face view head square with rounded corners; eyes prominent and convex. Mandibles large and powerful, with longitudinal rugae, and several teeth. Anterior clypeal margin straight but dentate; clypeus with median and lighter lateral carinae. Antennae and legs relatively thick; scapes exceed vertex by about one-third; funiculus with last three segments swollen to give a club. Propodeal spines moderately long, sharp and upturned at 45°. Petiole apex blunt and flat-topped in frontal view. Moderately abundant fine pale hairs on all surfaces.