Pheidole speculifera, Emery, Emery

FISCHER, GEORG., GARCIA, FRANCISCO HITA & PETERS, MARCELL K., 2012, Taxonomy of the ant genus Pheidole Westwood (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Afrotropical zoogeographic region: definition of species groups and systematic revision of the Pheidole pulchella group, Zootaxa 3232 (1), pp. 1-43 : 8

P. speculifera group:

Medium to large species (minor worker HW: 0.52–0.81 mm, n=26), the minor workers characterized by large relatively long appendages (SI: 111–123), and both worker subcastes with large postpetiole that is 2–3 times wider than long. Minor workers: long antennal scapes, surpassing the posterior head margin by about ¼ of their length. Posterior head margin compressed, weakly rounded [ prelli complex] to evenly rounded [ crassinoda , speculifera ]. Postpetiole large and voluminous, as long as [ prelli complex] or longer [ crassinoda , speculifera ] than petiole and more than twice as wide. Pilosity moderately abundant, either short and stout, with blunt or split apices [ crassinoda , prelli ] or longer and flexous [ speculifera ]. Major workers: head either massive and thick, with sculpture variable, frontal carinae & antennal scrobes absent, inner hypostomal teeth strongly reduced and median tooth absent [ speculifera complex] or head less massive, with strong longitudinal and transverse rugose-punctate sculpture, long, curved and broadly extended frontal carinae, inner hypostomal teeth and median tooth present and conspicuous [ prelli complex]. Spines thick and short, almost lobate. Postpetiole very massive, in dorsal view about 2–3 times wider than petiole, with a conspicuously spiked lateral process. The group can be subdivided into prelli complex and speculifera complex, the former with slightly smaller species (minor worker HW: 0.52–0.56 mm, n=5), which possess relatively large eyes (EI: 31–33) ( Pheidole caffra Emery , P. caffra abyssinica Forel , P. caffra amoena Forel , P. caffra bayeri Forel , P. caffra montivaga Santschi , P. caffra senilifrons Wheeler , P. prelli Forel, P. p re l l i ingenita Santschi, P. prelli redbankensis Forel ). The speculifera complex includes slightly to considerably larger species (minor worker HW: 0.60–0.81 mm, n=21) with smaller eyes (EI: 22–28) ( P. crassinoda Emery, P. crassinoda pluto Arnold, P. crassinoda ruspolii Emery , P. crassinoda sordidula Santschi , P. occipitalis André , P. occipitalis adami Santschi , P. occipitalis neutralis Santschi , P. speculifera Emery, P. s p e c u l i f e r a ascara Emery, P. speculifera bispecula Santschi, P. s p ec u li fe r a cubangensis Forel). New material and undescribed species from different localities can be found in the collections of BMNH, CASC and ZFMK.