Extant: 11 valid subspecies
Formica megacephala Fabricius, 1793 PDF: 361 (s.) MAURITIUS. Malagasy. Primary type information: MAURITIUS, Camizard Mt., Bambous, 20.3328 S, 57.723 E, 375 m, rainforest, ex rotten log, 27.v.2005, coll. B.L. Fisher et al., BLF12051; CASENT0104990; CASC AntCat AntWiki HOLTaxonomic history
[Unjustified emendation of spelling to megalocephala: Schulz, 1906 PDF: 155.].Latreille, 1802a PDF: 232 (q.); Mayr, 1861 PDF: 70 (s.w.q.m.); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1953b PDF: 75 (l.).Combination in Myrmica: Losana, 1834 PDF: 328.Combination in Pheidole: Mayr, 1861 PDF: 70 (in key); Roger, 1863b PDF: 30.Status as species: Latreille, 1802a PDF: 232; Fabricius, 1804 PDF: 411; Losana, 1834 PDF: 328; Mayr, 1855 PDF: 458 (footnote); Mayr, 1861 PDF: 70 (in key); Roger, 1863b PDF: 30, 49; Mayr, 1863a PDF: 441; Dours, 1873 PDF: 169; André, 1874c: 198 (in key); Emery & Forel, 1879 PDF: 463; Forel, 1881 PDF: 8; André, 1883b: 383 (in key); Nasonov, 1889: 38; Saunders, 1890 PDF: 205; Forel, 1891c PDF: 176 (redescription); Emery, 1891c: 13; Dalla Torre, 1892 PDF: 90; Emery, 1892c PDF: 160; Mayr, 1893b PDF: 201; Forel, 1893j PDF: 417; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 92; Emery, 1893e PDF: 84; Emery, 1893h PDF: 243; Forel, 1895e PDF: 227, 231; Emery, 1895d PDF: 294; Emery, 1895g PDF: 337; Emery, 1895m: 468; Saunders, 1896 PDF: 42; Emery, 1897f PDF: 598; Forel, 1899a PDF: 118; Forel, 1899b PDF: 76; Emery, 1899e PDF: 280; Emery, 1900: 682; Forel, 1901j PDF: 365; Forel, 1901m PDF: 81; Emery, 1901i PDF: 567; Ruzsky, 1902d PDF: 26; Forel, 1902c PDF: 173 (in key); Forel, 1902g PDF: 543; Forel, 1902j PDF: 433; Bingham, 1903 PDF: 242; Forel, 1903f PDF: 406; Mayr, 1904b PDF: 7; Ruzsky, 1905b: 650; Wheeler, 1905c PDF: 125; Wheeler, 1906j PDF: 349; Wheeler, 1907b PDF: 272; Mayr, 1907b PDF: 13; Forel, 1907g: 91; Forel, 1907h PDF: 17; Forel, 1907i PDF: 81; Forel, 1908b PDF: 3; Forel, 1908c PDF: 52; Forel, 1908a PDF: 65; Santschi, 1908 PDF: 517; Wheeler, 1908a PDF: 133; Forel, 1909i PDF: 226; Wheeler, 1909c PDF: 272; Wheeler, 1909d PDF: 336; Santschi, 1910c PDF: 370; Yano, 1910a PDF: 419; Wheeler, 1910a PDF: 563; Wheeler, 1911a PDF: 23; Forel, 1912a PDF: 69; Forel, 1912g PDF: 234; Forel, 1913f PDF: 662; Forel, 1913g PDF: 193; Forel, 1913l PDF: 27; Wheeler, 1913b PDF: 492; Santschi, 1914b PDF: 75; Santschi, 1914d PDF: 336; Santschi, 1914e: 22; Stitz, 1914 PDF: 67; Wheeler & Mann, 1914 PDF: 22; Forel, 1915a PDF: 28; Forel, 1915b PDF: 66; Emery, 1915i PDF: 235, 238; Donisthorpe, 1915f: 338; Crawley, 1915b: 235; Wheeler & Mann, 1916 PDF: 170; Stitz, 1917 PDF: 340; Wheeler, 1917g PDF: 458; Wheeler, 1919f PDF: 65; Santschi, 1920i PDF: 2; Emery, 1921c PDF: 85; Wheeler, 1922: 131, 812, 1018; Stitz, 1923: 154; Wheeler, 1924c PDF: 243; Mann, 1925b PDF: 5; Santschi, 1925h PDF: 160; Stärcke, 1926a PDF: 87 (in key); Wheeler, 1927d PDF: 4; Wheeler, 1927g PDF: 105; Donisthorpe, 1927c: 389; Clark, 1928b PDF: 169; Cheesman & Crawley, 1928 PDF: 517; Santschi, 1928a PDF: 47; Santschi, 1928c PDF: 69; Wheeler, 1928c PDF: 11; Menozzi, 1929b PDF: 2; Wheeler, 1929h PDF: 60; Menozzi, 1930h PDF: 328; Menozzi & Russo, 1930 PDF: 152; Wheeler, 1930b PDF: 98; Wheeler, 1930k PDF: 63; Santschi, 1930b PDF: 67; Donisthorpe, 1932c PDF: 455; Wheeler, 1932e PDF: 156; Wheeler, 1932g PDF: 14; Wheeler, 1933f PDF: 142; Wheeler, 1934a PDF: 174; Wheeler, 1934i: 11; Donisthorpe, 1935 PDF: 633; Karavaiev, 1935a PDF: 77; Santschi, 1935b: 267; Wheeler, 1935g: 18; Wheeler, 1936c PDF: 198; Wheeler, 1936g PDF: 5; Smith, 1937 PDF: 843; Wheeler, 1937a PDF: 22; Santschi, 1937b PDF: 98; Santschi, 1937d PDF: 217; Menozzi, 1939c: 103; Santschi, 1939c PDF: 7; Santschi, 1939f PDF: 161; Teranishi, 1940: 58; Menozzi, 1942a PDF: 166; Weber, 1943d PDF: 305; Eidmann, 1944 PDF: 442, 469; Donisthorpe, 1946i PDF: 29; Weber, 1948b PDF: 81; Donisthorpe, 1949f PDF: 275; Bernard, 1950c PDF: 287; Donisthorpe, 1950e PDF: 1061; Smith, 1951c PDF: 803; Chapman & Capco, 1951 PDF: 145; Menozzi & Consani, 1952 PDF: 62; Bernard, 1953b PDF: 225; Smith, 1954c PDF: 4; Wellenius, 1955 PDF: 6; Ceballos, 1956: 302; Smith, 1958c PDF: 122; Gregg, 1959 PDF: 12 (in key); Kempf, 1962b PDF: 18; Taylor & Wilson, 1962 PDF: 143; Bernard, 1967a PDF: 153 (redescription); Smith, 1967a PDF: 354; Taylor, 1967b PDF: 1094; Wilson & Taylor, 1967b PDF: 46, 103; Yarrow, 1967 PDF: 27; Bernard, 1971: 7; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 196; Alayo, 1974 PDF: 12 (in key); Bolton & Collingwood, 1975: 4 (in key); Taylor, 1976a: 84; Taylor, 1976b: 195; Báez & Ortega, 1978: 190; Smith, 1979: 1371; Collingwood, 1979 PDF: 62; Onoyama, 1980a PDF: 197; Barquín, 1981: 111; Brown, 1981 PDF: 529; Ogata, 1982 PDF: 197; Collingwood, 1985 PDF: 254; Naves, 1985 PDF: 64; Wheeler & Wheeler, 1986g PDF: 42 (in key); Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a PDF: 54; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b PDF: 272 (in key); Taylor, 1987a PDF: 54; Deyrup et al., 1989 PDF: 95; Brandão, 1991 PDF: 370; Ogata, 1991b PDF: 93; Morisita et al., 1992: 24; Collingwood, 1993b PDF: 194; Hohmann et al., 1993: 156; Dlussky, 1994a: 54; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Wu & Wang, 1995a: 103; Tang et al., 1995: 57; Dorow, 1996a PDF: 79; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996 PDF: 323; Berry et al., 1997 PDF: 27; Espadaler, 1997g PDF: 31; Zhou & Zheng, 1999 PDF: 84 (in key); Deyrup et al., 2000: 296; Zhou, 2001a PDF: 127; Eguchi, 2001b PDF: 77 (redescription) ; Markó & Csosz, 2002 PDF: 115; Wetterer, 2002 PDF: 129; Blard et al., 2003 PDF: 131; Imai et al., 2003 PDF: 159; Deyrup, 2003 PDF: 46; Lin & Wu, 2003: 65; Wetterer & Vargo, 2003 PDF: 417; Wilson, 2003a: 549 (redescription); Wetterer & Wetterer, 2004 PDF: 215; Jaitrong & Nabhitabhata, 2005 PDF: 34; Petrov, 2006 PDF: 93 (in key); Wetterer, 2006 PDF: 415; Clouse, 2007b PDF: 240; Don, 2007: 128; Wetterer et al., 2007 PDF: 31; Wetterer et al., 2007 PDF: 18; Framenau & Thomas, 2008 PDF: 71; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 55 (redescription); Heterick, 2009 PDF: 169; Terayama, 2009 PDF: 170; Mohanraj et al., 2010 PDF: 7; Collingwood et al., 2011 PDF: 438; Karaman, 2011b PDF: 48; Legakis, 2011 PDF: 12; Pfeiffer et al., 2011 PDF: 49; Borowiec & Salata, 2012 PDF: 526; Guénard & Dunn, 2012 PDF: 50; Kiran & Karaman, 2012 PDF: 23; Sarnat & Economo, 2012 PDF: 99; Wetterer, 2012e PDF: 51; Borowiec & Salata, 2013 PDF: 363; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 332 (redescription); Hita Garcia et al., 2013 PDF: 214; Sarnat et al., 2013 PDF: 71; Borowiec, 2014 PDF: 142 (see note in bibliography); Ramage, 2014 PDF: 172; Tohmé & Tohmé, 2014 PDF: 135; Bezděčková et al., 2015 PDF: 120; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50 (redescription); Bharti et al., 2016 PDF: 42; Lebas et al., 2016: 332; Wetterer et al., 2016 PDF: 15; Deyrup, 2017: 90; Sharaf et al., 2018 10.20362/am.010004 PDF: 27; Dekoninck et al., 2019 PDF: 1157; Lubertazzi, 2019 10.3099/MCZ-43.1 PDF: 149.Senior synonym of Pheidole agilis: Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 56; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole picata bernhardae: Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 51.Senior synonym of Pheidole edax: Dalla Torre, 1892 PDF: 90; Emery, 1892c PDF: 160; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 92; Emery, 1915i PDF: 235; Emery, 1921c PDF: 85; Wheeler, 1922: 812; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2001b PDF: 77; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 56; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 332; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole picata gietleni: Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 51.Senior synonym of Pheidole janus: Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 92; Forel, 1899b PDF: 76; Wheeler, 1919f PDF: 66; Wheeler, 1922: 813; Smith, 1954c PDF: 4; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 56; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 332; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole laevigata (Smith, 1855): Roger, 1863b PDF: 30; Dours, 1873 PDF: 169; Emery & Forel, 1879 PDF: 463; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 92; Forel, 1899b PDF: 77; Ruzsky, 1905b: 650; Wheeler, 1919f PDF: 66; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 56; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 332; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole laevigata Mayr, 1862: Roger, 1863b PDF: 30; Emery & Forel, 1879 PDF: 463; Forel, 1891c PDF: 176; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 92; Forel, 1899b PDF: 77; Ruzsky, 1905b: 650; Wheeler, 1919f PDF: 66; Wheeler, 1922: 812; Donisthorpe, 1927c: 389; Donisthorpe, 1935 PDF: 633; Smith, 1954c PDF: 4; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 196; Naves, 1985 PDF: 64; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 56; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole perniciosa: Emery, 1915i PDF: 235; Emery, 1921c PDF: 85; Wheeler, 1922: 813; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2001b PDF: 77; Zhou, 2001a PDF: 127; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 55; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole picata: Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 51.Senior synonym of Pheidole pusilla: Roger, 1863b PDF: 30; Dours, 1873 PDF: 169; André, 1874c: 204 (in list); Emery & Forel, 1879 PDF: 463; Forel, 1891c PDF: 176; Dalla Torre, 1892 PDF: 90; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 92; Forel, 1895e PDF: 231; Forel, 1899b PDF: 76; Ruzsky, 1905b: 650; Wheeler, 1911g PDF: 169; Wheeler, 1919f PDF: 66; Wheeler, 1922: 812; Donisthorpe, 1927c: 389; Donisthorpe, 1935 PDF: 633; Smith, 1954c PDF: 4; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 196; Naves, 1985 PDF: 64; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2001b PDF: 77; Zhou, 2001a PDF: 127; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 56; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 332; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole megacephala scabrior: Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole suspiciosa: Donisthorpe, 1932c PDF: 455; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2001b PDF: 77; Zhou, 2001a PDF: 127; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 56; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole testacea: Brown, 1981 PDF: 530; Brandão, 1991 PDF: 370; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2001b PDF: 77; Zhou, 2001a PDF: 127; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 56; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 333; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.Senior synonym of Pheidole trinodis: Roger, 1863b PDF: 30; Emery & Forel, 1879 PDF: 463; Forel, 1891c PDF: 176; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 92; Forel, 1899b PDF: 76; Ruzsky, 1905b: 650; Wheeler, 1919f PDF: 65; Wheeler, 1922: 812; Bolton, 1995b: 325; Eguchi, 2001b PDF: 77; Zhou, 2001a PDF: 127; Eguchi, 2008 PDF: 55; Fischer & Fisher, 2013 PDF: 332; Sarnat et al., 2015 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF: 50.. T91, Gouela. Prairie a 1.600 m. (LaMOTTE). Peu commune.
[[ worker ]]. Fundnotiz: Mayotte und Anjou an (Comoren).
Entom. Syst., vol. 2, p. 361 (1775). - Dalla Torre, Cat. Hym., vol. 7, Formicidae, p. 92 (1893).
Afrique orientale anglaise: region cotiere: Shimoni (st. n° 9, nov. 1911), [[worker]], [[soldier]]; - riviere Ramisi (st. n° 3, nov. 1911), 9 [[worker]]; - Naivasha, dans le Rift Valley (alt. 1.900 m., st. n° 14, dec. 1911), [[worker]], [[soldier]] -Nairobi (1904), [[worker]]; - idem (1903), [[worker]], [[soldier]], [[queen]];
- Port-Florence, sur la baie de Kavirondo (st. n° 22, dec. 1911). Afrique orientale allemande: Tanga (st. n° 74, avril 1912), [[worker]];
- Kilimandjaro: Neu-Moschi (alt. 800 m., st. n° 72, avril 1912), [[worker]]. Espece cosmopolite sous les tropiques.
Les nids de ce Pheidole etaient abondants sous les pierres plates d'un petit col de la route dc Naivasha a Nyere, au-dessus du vallon de Naivasha (alt. 1.600 m. env.). Quelques Paussus ont ete recueillis dans ces fourmilieres (st. n° 14, 16 dec. 1911).
Dans la st. n° 22, Pheidole megacephala a ete recueilli dans les galeries d'une termitiere [Termes bellicosus Smeath] sur les bords du Victoria Nyanza. (Alluaud et Jeannel.)
- Naivasha (station 14). Commensaux: Coleopteres (Paussus).
Bagamoyo und Kihengo.
[[soldier]] [[worker]]. Takao.
[[ worker ]] Costa Rica (Biolley).
[[ worker ]] [[ queen ]] [[ male ]] [[ soldier ]]. Coetivy; Amirantes; Farquhar; He Desroches. Espece cosmopolite.
[[ worker ]] [[ soldier ]] et [[ queen ]]. (No. 49 a a 49 d). Cosmopolite dans les tropiques,
(49). Apparently a rare species.
(49 a). Wallilobo (leeward), Nov. 8 th; seashore. From passages at the root of a tree. Formicary could not be found. The ants are moderately active, and not very pugnacious.
(49 b). Fitz-Hugh Estate (leeward), near sea-level. Dec. 12 th. A large community, with extensive passages about an old arrowroot-machine; the passages partly under stones, or by the sides of posts which supported the machine; partly in the ground near the surface. In places there were galleries, covered with a substance apparently formed of wood-fibre and earth. I could find no larvae, and no males nor females, though I dug deep. Probably this was a branch of the main nest, which may have been some distance away. The workers major were numerous, probably one-fourth of the whole. The place was quite near the seashore.
(49 c). Petit Bordelle Estate; open land near the sea. Dec. 15 th. A very large community (eight or ten thousand, I should think), under turf on a rock; shore of a stream. The chambers were large, some of them four inches long and wide, but not high; and they were partly built up with walls of wood-fibre or some similar substance. The passages were numerous, and the whole formicarium occupied a space of about two square feet. The workers major are not numerous; about as one to twenty compared with the workers minor. Only one female could be found. The larvas were numerous. This ant walls in a large proportion of its works, both pas-. sages and chambers, with ' the wood-fibre substance mentioned above. It does not tunnel more than an inch or two below the surface of the ground, so far as I can discover.
(44 d). Same locality and date as No. 49 c, but another nest; under a stone. Most of the space under the stone was occupied by a large chamber, about 6 x 4 in., but not high, around the outside of the stone; next the ground were other chambers, formed of the wood-fibre substance. Apparently this was only a part of the nest, with. ' branches under other stones. Only one female found.
The species is common at Petit Bordelle, but I have not been able to find males.
Variétéfoncée . Sfax.
Les soldats ont la tete considerablement retrecie en avant, en quoi ils different de pallidula et de picata ; le corselet est plus large que chez pallidula , notamment le pronotum; ce segment a des epaules plus ou moins marquees, qui ne se voient pas, ou sont rudimentaires chez pallidula . La tete est ordinairement luisante dans sa partie posterieure, rugueuse longitudinalement, pointillee et mate, sur le front, les parties laterales de l'epistome et les joues; la portion rugueuse s'etend sur les cotes, en arriere de l' oe il; a l'endroit ou s'appuie le scape, il y a une impression plus ou moins pointillee, mate. Le derriere de la tete a des points piligeres de grandeur variable; le fond du sillon median a generalement des strioles longitudinales, qui s'etendent; parfois plus ou moins sur le vertex et l'occiput.
L'ouvriere est, en general, plus petite que pallidula par rapport au soldat. Elle a la tete plus etroite, surtout chez les individus de petite taille, plus arrondie en arriere et le bord posterieur n'est pas droit, en quoi elle differe de pallidula et de picata . On remarque, au moins chez les individus de petite taille, le bord releve du trou occipital, faisant saillie, quand on regarde la tete en dessus.
Je n'ai pas etudie les caracteres des femelles et des males, je ne dispose pas d'un materiel suffisant pour le faire utilement.
Je n'ai pas l'intention de donner une description complete des sous-especes et varietes de Ph. megacephala : pour cela je renvoie le lecteur aux auteurs´qui les ont publiees. Il me suffira d'avoir mis un peu d'ordre dans cet echeveau embrouille. Il y a, sans doute, beaucoup de choses obscures, particulierement dans la serie punctulata-rotundata et dans ce qui est confondu sous le nom de la forme cosmopolite « pusilla », dans son sens restreint. Dans cette derniere surtout, des mutations dues aux conditions d'existence (notamment dans l'Amerique meridionale) meriteraient une etude.
- Colombo, Kandy.
— Canaria (4), Tenerife (M. Noualhier).
Espece cosmopolite.
Figs. 15a-g
Formica megacephala Fabricius , 1793: 36. Roger 1863b: 30 (combination in Pheidole ). Syntype(s): major, no locality given, not examined.
Myrmica trinodis Losana , 1834: 327. Roger 1863b: 30 (junior synonym of megacephala ). Syntype(s): "worker", Italy, not examined.
Formica edax Forskal , 1775: 84. Emery 1892: 160 (junior synonym of megacephala ), Dalla Torre 1892: 90 (same). Syntype(s): "worker", Egypt, not examined.
Oecophthora perniciosa Gerstacker , 1859: 263. Roger 1863b: 31 (combination in Pheidole ), Emery, 1915c: 235 (junior synonym of megacephala ). Syntype(s): "worker", Mozambique, not examined.
Oecophthora pusilla Heer , 1852: 15. F. Smith 1858: 173 (combination in Pheidole ), Roger 1859: 259 (senior synonym of laevigata Fr. Smith , 1855: 130), Mayr 1870: 981 (senior synonym of laevigata Mayr , 1862: 747), Mayr 1886: 360 (senior synonym of janus ), Emery 1915: 235 (subspecies of megacephala ), Wheeler 1922: 812 (junior synonym of megacephala ). Syntypes: major, minor, queen & male, Madeira, not examined.
Myrmica agilis F. Smith , 1857: 71. Donisthorpe 1932: 449 (combination in Pheidole ). Syn.n. Syntypes: 3 minors, "MALAC" [= Malacca, S. Malay Peninsula], OXUM TYPE HYM: 988 1-3/3, examined.
Myrmica suspiciosa F. Smith , 1859: 148. Donisthorpe 1932: 455 (junior synonym of megacephala ). Syntype (s): "worker", Aru I. (Indonesia), not examined.
Atta testacea F. Smith , 1858: 168. Mayr 1886: 360 (combination in Pheidole ), Brown, 1981: 530 (junior synonym of megacephala ). Syntypes: major & minor, Brazil, not examined.
Subspecies enumerated in Bolton, 1995: nominal plus costauriensis Santschi , 1914: 443, syntype(s): major, Ghana, not examined; duplex Santschi , 1937a: 220, syntypes: major, minor & queen, Angola, not examined; ilgi Forel , 1907: 82, syntypes: major & minor, Ethiopia, not examined.; impressifrons Wasmann , 1905: 110 (replacement name for impressiceps Wasmann , 1904: 72), syntypes: major, minor & queen, South Africa, not examined; melancholica Santschi , 1912: 164, syntypes: major & minor, Ivory Coast, not examined; nkomoana Forel , 1916: 415, syntypes: major, minor, queen & male, Zaire, not examined; rotundata Forel , 1894: 92, syntypes: major & minor, Mozambique, not examined; scabrior Forel , 1891: 178, syntypes: major & minor, Madagascar, not examined; speculifrons Stitz , 1911: 386, syntypes: major & minor, Tanzania, not examined; talpa Gerstacker , 1871: 356, syntypes: "worker" & queen, Kenya, not examined. For these forms type material not examined.
Other material examined: S. China: Hong Kong: Victoria Park, Hong Kong I. [K. Eguchi]; Macau: Mong Ha [K. Eguchi]. N. Vietnam: Ha Noi: Hanoi Agric. Univ. (Gia Lam) [K. Ogata: 15-min TUS #2]; Quang Ninh: Hoanh Bo [K. Eguchi]. S. Vietnam: Vinh Long (misspelled as "Vinlong"): Vinh Long (10°15'N, 105°58'N) [S. Kawaguchi]. Thailand: Trang: Khao Chong Waterfall [Eg01-VN-761]. W. Malaysia: Penang: beside a building of Univ. Sains Malaysia [C.Y. Lee]. E. Malaysia: Sabah: Kota Kinabalu [Eg97-BOR-376], Tambunan Village [H. Okido], Danam Valley [Eg96-BOR-108]. Indonesia: Kalimantan Timur: Tandjung Isuy [Seyfert & Graindl]; Irian Jaya: Wamena, 1600 m alt. [Eg98-IRI-674, -675, -676, -703]. Australia: Queensland: S. Mission Beach near Tully [AU01-SKY-12]. Tonga: Tongatapu: Vaini [J.K. Wetterer].
Worker measurements & indices: Major (n=5). - HL 1.28-1.45 mm; HW 1.25-1.45 mm; CI 98-100; SL 0.71-0.76 mm; SI 52-57; FL 0.94-0.98 mm; FI 68-77.
Minor (n=5). - HL 0.62-0.72 mm; HW 0.55-0.65 mm; CI 88-91; SL 0.67-0.73 mm; SI 111-121; FL 0.68-0.77 mm; FI 118-123. Worker description
Major. - Head in lateral view roundly convex dorsally, not impressed on vertex, in full-face view shallowly concave posteriorly; frons longitudinally rugose (or rarely almost smooth, only sparsely with short interrupted longitudinal rugulae); vertex and dorsum of vertexal lobe smooth and shining or shagreened; frontal carina absent or present just as weak rugula(e); antennal scrobe absent; median longitudinal carina of clypeus weak or absent; hypostoma at most with a pair of very small or inconspicuous submedian processes in addition to a pair of conspicuous lateral processes; antenna with a 3-segmented club; maximal diameter of eye almost as long as or longer than antennal segment X. Promesonotal dome in dorsal view smooth and shining or shagreened, sometimes with several weak transverse rugulae, in lateral view at most with an inconspicuous mound on its posterior slope; humerus not or weakly produced laterad; the dome at the humeri narrower than at the bottom; mesopleuron, metapleuron and lateral face of propodeum weakly or very weakly punctured. Petiole a little longer than postpetiole (excluding helcium); postpetiole not massive; its anteroventral part weakly swollen. First gastral tergite smooth and shining entirely, or very weakly punctured around its articulation with postpetiole and smooth or shagreened in the remainder.
Minor. - Head smooth and shining; preoccipital carina weak but present dorsally and laterally; median part of clypeus smooth and shining, without a median longitudinal carina; antenna with a 3-segmented club; scape extending beyond posterolateral margin of head by the double length of antennal segment II or more; maximal diameter of eye almost as long as, or sometimes a little shorter than antennal segment X. Promesonotal dome smooth and shining, in lateral view lacking a mound on its posterior slope; humerus in dorso-oblique view not or hardly produced; mesopleuron, metapleuron and lateral face of propodeum punctured weakly; metanotal groove inconspicuous. Petiole almost as long as or a little longer than postpetiole (excluding helcium); postpetiole relatively long but not massive; its anteroventral part weakly swollen.
Recognition: The syntype minors of " Myrmica agilis " agree well with minors of Bornean populations (e.g., Eg96-BOR-108) of P megacephala . I conclude that P agilis is a juninor synonym of P megacephala .
P. megacephala is well distinguished from Indo-Chinese species by the combination of the following characteristics: in the major head in full-face view only shallowly concave posteriorly; in the major dorsum of vertexal lobe smooth and shining or shagreened; in the major hypostoma in the middle at most with a pair of very small or inconspicuous submedian processes; in the minor preoccipital carina weak but present dorsally and laterally; posterior slope of promesonotal dome at most with an inconspicuous mound in the major, and without any mound in the minor; in the major and minor anteroventral part of postpetiole weakly swollen.
Distribution & bionomics: Widely distributed in the world tropics and subtropics. For detailed information on biology and ecological and economic impacts of this species see Reimer et al. (1993), Campbell (1994), Hoffmann (1998), Wetterer (1998), Hoffmann et al. (1999), Vanderwoude et al. (2000), etc.
Niangara, [[worker]]; Akenge, [[queen]]; Stanleyville, [[queen]]; Banana, [[soldier]], [[worker]] (Lang and Chapin); Zambi, [[soldier]], [[worker]], [[queen]] (Bequaert and Lang); Matadi, [[soldier]],[[worker]]; Thysville, [[worker]]; Boma, [[soldier]], [[worker]], [[queen]]; Malela, [[soldier]], [[worker]], [[queen]] (J. Bequaert). All these specimens belong to the typical form of this well-known tropicopolitan pest. I have been unable to recognize among it If Forel's subspecies nkomoana, originally described from the vicinity of Stanleyville. In the colony taken at Zambi by Lang and Bequaert there are several specimens of an interesting Microdon larva, which is figured and described in Part VI. The female specimens from Akenge and Stanleyville, five in number, were taken from the stomach of a toad (Bufo polycercus) and a frog (Rana, mascareniensis).
de forme ordinaire, partout, de la plaine jusqu'à 1600 mètres Une variétéentièrement d'un jaune pâle (aussi le soldat dont les mandibules seules sont d'un jaune roux) sur le Djebel Ozmor près de Tébessa et au sommet d'une montagne près de Souk-Ahras.
, Ent. Syst. " ii. p. 361 1793).
1 [[ worker ]]. Le Pouce Mt., Mauritius, November 2 nd, 1948 (Mamet).
Boma, [[soldier]], [[worker]], [[queen]]; Ngayu, [[soldier]], [[worker]]; Avakubi, [[soldier]], [[worker]]; Stanleyville, [[soldier]], [[worker]], [[queen]], [[male]]; Bolobo, [[soldier]], [[worker]]; Faradje, [[soldier]], [[worker]]; Zambi, [[soldier]], [[worker]], [[queen]]; Niapu, [[soldier]], [[worker]]; Garamba, [[soldier]], [[worker]]; Banana [[soldier]], [[worker]] (Lang and Chapin).
A well-known and widely distributed Ethiopian form, apparently more abundant in the Belgian Congo than the typical P. megacephala . The specimens from various colonies show considerable variation in color, some being dark brown, others pale and more yellowish or reddish, especially those from Stanleyville and Banana. Mr. Lang gives the native name of the species as "tuegeke" and his notes give the nesting sites as "under heaps of decomposed, moist grass," "in fallen stems of Hyphasne," "in mushroom-shaped termitaria in swamps," and "in the tops of termite mounds."
, Smith, Proc. Linn. Soc. Supp. v. 112. 5.
Mr. Wallace has sent a series of workers of this species collected from the nest. These contain, as it were, three modifications of the enormously large-headed individuals; all of these have heads similar in form, subquadrate, longitudinally striated anteriorly, and transversely so behind; these I should call varieties of the worker major; the worker minor has the head subovate in form, smooth, polished and shining; not striated behind, and very faintly so anteriorly. The links which would unite these two distinct forms of the working ants are wanting. I am therefore still of opinion that societies of ants generally possess two distinct sets of workers whose functions are totally different; this is known to be the case in slave-making communities, and also in the remarkable genus Eciton , of which only the workers are known.
Femelle (inedite). Types: une [[queen]] ailee et 5 [[queen]] desailees de la savane du Nimba. Cotypes: 2 [[queen]] ailees immatures de la crete du Mont To, a 1.600 m. Long.: 6,5 a 7,5 mm. Brunchocolat, luisantes sauf a la base du gastre. Thorax encore plus plat que chez megacephala Les 2 bandes du mesonotum en occupent plus de la moitie et s'etendent sur toute sa longueur (sur la moitie posterieure seulement chez megacephala et sa sbsp. pusilla ). Le second n oe ud du petiole est plus anguleux lateralement, entierement mat et convexe en-dessus (plus ou moins luisant et a 2 gibosites chez megacephala ).
Pheidole de tres petite taille (soldat: moins de 4 mm., [[worker]]: 2 mm. au plus),
Ces petites Fourmis, dont il y a une douzaine d'especes en Afrique, sont peu connues et rares dans les collections,, probablement parce qu'elles vivent surtout dans la paroi des termitieres ou dans les mousses des forets. Le Nimba en a donne 5 especes dont 2 inedites:
En 1937, SANTSCHI en a separe comme espece la race punctulata MAYR et ses 3 varietes. Il reste neanmoins dans megacephala , espece cosmo-tropicale, onze sous-especes et 8 varietes, rien que pour l'Afrique. Le polymorphisme des soldats, tres net pour des formes classiques comme P. pallidula mediterraneenne , aurait du inciter les specialistes a la prudence. J'avoue ne- pas y voir tres clair dans le fouillis des races, et voici simplement les quelques formes du Nimba correspondant a des types extremes et bien tranches:
Pheidole megacephala is a species of ant in the family Formicidae. It is commonly known as the big-headed ant in the USA and the coastal brown ant in Australia. It is a very successful invasive species and is considered a danger to native ants in Australia[2] and other places. It is regarded as one of the world's worst invasive ant species.[3]
Pheidole megacephala was described from a specimen from the island of Mauritius by the entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793, although a 1775 record exists for Egypt, under the name Formica edax.[4] Regardless of its origin, big-headed ants have since spread to many tropical and subtropical parts of the world.[5]
There are two types of worker ants, the major or soldier ant and the minor worker. The common name of bigheaded ant derives from the soldier's disproportionately large head. This has large mandibles which may be used to crush seeds. The soldiers are about four millimetres in length, twice as long as the minor workers. The colour of both types varies from yellowish-brown or reddish-brown to nearly black.
The rear half of the head is smooth and glossy and the front half sculptured. The twelve-segmented antennae are curved and have club-like tips. The waist or petiole is two-segmented with the node immediately behind conspicuously swollen. There are a pair of short, upward-facing spines on the waist. The body has sparse, long hairs.[5]
Bigheaded ants nest in colonies underground. Colonies can have several queens [6] and supercolonies can be formed by budding, when a queen and workers leave the original nest and set up a new colony nearby without swarming.[7] In Florida, nuptial flights of winged ants take place during the winter and spring and afterwards, fertilized queens shed their wings and find a suitable site to found a new colony where they start laying eggs.[5] Each queen lays up to 290 eggs per month. The eggs hatch after two to four weeks and the legless white larvae, which are fed by the workers, pupate about a month later. The adult workers emerge ten to twenty days after that.[8]
The minor workers are much more numerous than the soldiers. Trails of ants lead up trunks, along branches and into the canopies of trees and debris-covered foraging tunnels with numerous entrances are created on the surface of the ground. These may be confused with similar tubes built by subterranean termites.
P. megacephala can also live indoors.[9]
The bigheaded ants feed on dead insects, small invertebrates and honeydew excreted by insects such as aphids, soft scale insects, mealybugs, whiteflies and planthoppers. These sap-sucking bugs thrive in the presence of bigheaded ants, being more abundant on plants patrolled by ants than on those not so patrolled.[10] Also, bigheaded ants are predators of the eggs of various species of moths such as the African sugarcane borer, common in sub-Saharan Africa.[11] Green scale, Coccus viridis, flourished when bigheaded ants protected their food source by removing predators such as lady beetle larvae and lepidopteran larvae.[12]
Foraging ants will alert others to new food sources. Honeydew is ingested but other foodstuffs are carried back to the nest by both major and minor workers who may transfer items of food between themselves. Anything too big to be moved may be dissected before being brought back to the nest.[5]
Bigheaded ants are a threat to biodiversity through the displacement of native invertebrate fauna and is a pest of agriculture through harvesting seeds and harbouring insects on crops. They are also known to chew on irrigation and telephone cabling as well as electrical wires.[3]
Pheidole megacephala is a species of ant in the family Formicidae. It is commonly known as the big-headed ant in the USA and the coastal brown ant in Australia. It is a very successful invasive species and is considered a danger to native ants in Australia and other places. It is regarded as one of the world's worst invasive ant species.
