Genus Pheidole Westwood (1839: 219)

In Tribe PHEIDOLINI. In great need of revision.

Diagnostic Features - Dimorphic, intermediates rare. Antennae 12-segmented, with a 3-segmented club.

Major worker, often called a soldier, with a massive head and the occipital margin deeply impressed centrally. Mandibles large, heavy and strongly curved; each usually with three teeth, two apical and one basal with an intervening diastema. Eyes forward of the mid-length of the head. Promesonotal suture rarely present. Metanotal groove deeply impressed. Propodeum with a pair of spines or teeth. Petiole usually emarginate dorsally.

Minor worker with the occipital margin shallowly emarginate or more usually with the sides of the head converging behind the eyes, to give a very short occipital margin. Mandibles usually with two or three large apical teeth subtended by a row of denticulae. Remainder as in the major, but the eyes are usually at or just forward of the midlength of the head.

Westwood's (1839: 219) genus name and brief notes are at . The species, Atta providens Sykes, on which Westwood based his cursory genus definition is covered on this website as Pheidole providens (see below). Mayr (1861: 69) gave a genus description, this is at . Arnold (1920a: ) gave an illustrated translation, this is at .

A very large and taxonomically confused genus, with a multiplicity of nesting sites and foraging habits. Bernard (1952) noted there were 76 species known from Africa, of which 44 were from "French West Africa"; and described the classification as a maze, complicated by the presence of workers and true soldiers, with enormous heads. Because of the relative similarity of males, queens and workers, he found the soldiers with distinct variations to be the only useful form for distinguishing species. Personally, I too found the soldiers, in general, to be much more useful in distinguishing the various species.

In terms of habits, Bernard (1952) regarded Asian species as strictly granivorous but the moist tropical conditions of Africa mitigated against this and most African species are omnivorous. The soldiers he described as dual functional - cutting up large food particles and defending the colony.

We have compiled a taxonomic history of the Genus Pheidole Westwood in the Mediterranean area and the Middle East
with a full reference list on Genus Pheidole Westwood in the Mediterranean area and the Middle East - References.
Also Revisionary notes on "teneriffana", fervens and providens (j. syn. indica)

Key to major workers from the circum-Mediterranean area - Key to minor workers from the circum-Mediterranean area

Synonymic synopsis of species known or reported from the Mediterranean and the Middle East

* indicates what we regard as definite species for Egypt

• arenarum Ruzsky, 1905 [Turkey eastwards]
  • = koshewnikovi Ruzsky, 1905
• cicatricosa n. stat. = Pheidole pallidula Nyl., v. cicatricosa n. v., Stitz, 1917; * [semi-desert species of North Africa from Egypt westwards, in dry areas of Spain, and in Mali]
  • = = Pheidole pallidula Nyl., v. tristis n. var., Forel, 1907b
• fadli Sharaf, 2007 * [Egypt]
• fervens F. Smith, 1858 * [Tramp species, pan-global mainly in coastal areas outside Asia]
  • = cavannae = Pheidole Cavannae n. sp., Emery, 1887
  • = javana = Pheidole javana, nov. spec, Mayr, 1867: 98
  • = nigriscapa = Pheidole oceanica Mayr, v. nigriscapa, var. n., Santschi, 1928a
  • = tahitiana = Pheidole oceanica subsp. nigriscapa, var. tahitiana, sp. n., Santschi in Cheesman & Crawley, 1928: 516
  • = amia = Pheidole amia Forel, 1912
  • = desucta = Pheidole javana var. desucta new variety, Wheeler, W. M , 1929f
  • = dharmsalana = Pheidole javana Mayr var. Dharmsalana n. var., Forel, 1902c
  • = dolenda = Pheidole javana Mayr var. dolenda n. var., Forel, 1912a: 60
  • = pectinata = Pheidole javana Mayr var. pectinata n. v., Stitz, 1912: 504
  • = soror = Pheidole javana Mayr, st. soror n. st., Santschi, 1937h: 369
  • = azumai = Pheidole nodus F Smith, stirps azumai Santschi, 1941
  • = pungens = Solenopsis pungens F Smith, 1861: 48-49
  • in part = teneriffana = Pheidole teneriffana Forel, 1893, n. syn./LI>
  • = taina = Pheidole teneriffana taina, subsp. nov. Aguayo, 1932, n. syn.
• jordanica Saulcy, 1874 * [Egypt, east to Saudi Arabia and north into Israel]
  • = obtusa = Pheidole megacephala F. r. obtusa n.v. Stitz, 1917
  • = schmitzi Forel, 1911
• laticeps n. stat. = Pheidole sinaitica Mayr, subsp. laticeps, nov. subspec. Mayr, 1904 * [Egypt and Nile Valley into Sudan]
• megacephala (Formica megacephala, Fabricius, 1793 [Pan-global tramp but mainly tropical and hothouses in temperate areas]
  • = duplex = Pheidole megacephala F. v. duplex n. var. Santschi, 1937b
  • = ilgi = Pheidole rotundata Forel, subsp. ilgi n. subsp. Forel, 1907b
  • = scabrior = Pheidole megacephala F. var. scabrior n. var. Forel, 1891
  • = laevigata = Myrmica laevigata (F Smith, 1855)
  • = perniciosa = Oecophthora perniciosa (Gerstäcker, 1859)
  • = suspiciosa = Myrmica suspiciosa (F. Smith, 1859)
  • = testacea = Atta testacea (F Smith, 1858b)
  • = agilis = Myrmica agilis (F Smith, 1857)
• orientalis n. stat. = Pheidole pallidula subsp. arenarum Ruzsky var. orientalis Emery, 1915c [Israel east to Saudi Arabia]
• pallidula = Myrmica pallidula (Nylander, 1849) * [Adriatic westwards around the Mediterranean and North Africa across to Egypt]
  • = inquilina = Xenophaenogaster inquilina (Baroni Urbani, 1964b)
  • = megacephala = Myrmica megacephala (Losana, 1834)
  • = recticeps = Pheidole pallidula Nyl subsp. tristis For, var. recticeps n. var., Forel, 1909
  • = Pheidole capensis of Emery, 1891
  • = subdentata (Oecophthora subdentata, Mayr, 1853)
  • = obscura = Pheidole pallidula v. n. emeryi, Krausse, 1912; replacement name by Santschi, 1936
• providens (Sykes, 1835) * [South Asia and westwards to Egypt, Israel, Iran and possibly Saudia Arabia]
  • = indica = Pheidole indica Mayr, 1879, n. syn.
  • = himalayana = Pheidole indica Mayr, r. himalayana n. subsp., Forel, 1902
  • = rotschana = Pheidole indica Mayr, r. rotschana n. subsp., Forel, 1902
  • = divinans = Pheidole indica Mayr, subsp. rotschana Forel, var. divinans, n.v. Forel, 1911c: 222
  • = javana = Pheidole javana Mayr r. jubilans Forel var. formosae n. var. Forel, 1912
  • in part = teneriffana = Pheidole teneriffana Forel, 1893, n. syn.
• sinaitica Mayr, 1862 * [Egypt & Israel]
  • = santschii Forel, 1907
  • = inermis = Pheidole pallidula Nyl. v. inermis n. v., Stitz 1917