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Pacific Islands: Hawaii > Myrmicinae > Pheidole > Pheidole megacephala

Species: Pheidole megacephala

Taxonomic Hierarchy:

Subfamily: Myrmicinae Genus: Pheidole

Distribution:

All the main islands, and some Northwest Hawaiian Islands

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2010)

megacephala . Formica megacephala Fabricius, 1793: 361 (s.) no locality given. Latreille, 1802c: 232 (q.); Mayr, 1861: 70 (s.w.q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1953b: 75 (l.). Combination in Pheidole : Roger, 1863b: 30. Senior synonym of trinodis : Roger, 1863b: 30; of edax : Dalla Torre, 1892: 90; Emery, 1892b: 160; of perniciosa : Emery, 1915j: 235; of pusilla (and its junior synonyms janus, laevigata Smith, laevigata Mayr): Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 812; of suspiciosa : Donisthorpe, 1932c: 455; of testacea : Brown, 1981: 530; of agilis : Eguchi, 2008: 56. [ P. megalocephala Schulz, 1906: 155; unjustified emendation.] Current subspecies: nominal plus costauriensis, duplex, ilgi, impressifrons, melancholica, nkomoana, rotundata, scabrior, speculifrons, talpa . See also: Eguchi, 2001b: 77; Wilson, 2003: 549.

Taxonomic Treatment (provided by Plazi )

Forel, A., 1912 :
[[soldier]] [[worker]]. Takao.

Smith, F., 1861 :
, 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.

Santschi, F., 1914 :
- Naivasha (station 14). Commensaux: Coleopteres (Paussus).
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.)

Forel, A., 1908 :
[[ worker ]] Costa Rica (Biolley).

Bernard, F., 1953 :
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:
. T91, Gouela. Prairie a 1.600 m. (LaMOTTE). Peu commune.
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:

Forel, A., 1893 :
[[ 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.

Forel, A. :
[[ worker ]]. Fundnotiz: Mayotte und Anjou an (Comoren).

Forel, A., 1907 :
[[ worker ]] [[ queen ]] [[ male ]] [[ soldier ]]. Coetivy; Amirantes; Farquhar; He Desroches. Espece cosmopolite.

Emery, C., 1893 :
? Canaria (4), Tenerife (M. Noualhier).
Espece cosmopolite.

Mayr, G., 1893 :
Bagamoyo und Kihengo.

Donisthorpe, H. S. J. K., 1949 :
, Ent. Syst. " ii. p. 361 1793).
1 [[ worker ]]. Le Pouce Mt., Mauritius, November 2 nd, 1948 (Mamet).

Emery, C., 1894 :
- Mahe, Praslin, La Digue, Marie-Anne, Ile-Ronde.
Parait etre la Fourmi la plus commune aux Sechelles; c'est une espece cosmopolite, mais qui offre des varietes locales assez marquees; la variete scabrior n'a ete rencontree jusqu'ici qu'a Madagascar.

Emery, C., 1915 :
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.
Caracterisee par la longueur des epines de l'epinotum.
Caracterisee par les strioles dursillon median de l'occiput qui sont plus nombreuses et envahissent souvent les parties lisses de la tete du [[ soldier ]]; les points des lobes occipitaux sont aussi plus forts.
Ces deux varietes sont repandues a Madagascar et dans les iles voisines jusqu'aux Sechelles.
Je veux essayer de donner une explication du cosmopolitisme, du, sans aucun doute, au commerce, de Ph. megacephala pusilla . Cette Fourmi est, je pense, originaire des iles de l'ocean Indien, probablement du groupe Mascarenien et de Madagascar. Sa diffusion dans les Indes et la Malaisie ne presente pas de difficulte. Au contraire, sa diffusion en Amerique, surtout dans les Antilles, a Madere et aux Canaries, avec exclusion presque complete de l'Afrique continentale, est difficile a comprendre.
En 1852, Heer trouva cette Fourmi etablie des longtemps a Madere; il ne dit pas un mot de son importation. D'autre part, Latreille, en 1802, ecrit qu'on a recu la Formica megacephala vivante a Paris; il est a supposer de l'ile de France. Je presume que cette Fourmi a ete repandue avec une ou plusieurs plantes cultivees des tropiques, par exemple la canne a sucre, la banane ou le cafe. Les ports de l'Afrique, au XVIIIe siecle, donnaient lieu au commerce surtout d'exportation des produits indigenes et des esclaves, tandis que l'Amerique etait la terre des colons, ou ils cultivaient les plantes tropicales provenant des Indes; c'etait la evidemment que devait se repandre une Fourmi si facile a se nicher dans les interstices du bois et des racines.

Forel, A., 1890 :
Variétéfoncée . Sfax.

Eguchi, K., 2008 :
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.

Emery, C., 1893 :
- Colombo, Kandy.

Wheeler, W. M., 1922 :
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).

17 Specimens Imaged | View All 852 Specimens for this species

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ICCDRS0003685

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© Jack Longino, Evergreen State College, 2004 Pheidole megacephala, worker major, head	© Jack Longino, Evergreen State College, 2004 Pheidole megacephala, worker major, side

© Jack Longino, Evergreen State College, 2004 Pheidole megacephala, worker minor, head	© Jack Longino, Evergreen State College, 2004 Pheidole megacephala, worker minor, side

Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793:161)

Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius 1793)