Abstract
This paper is a starting point towards a much needed comprehensive taxonomic treatment of the genus Pheidole in theAfrotropical region. Despite its hyperdiversity, the taxonomy of this globally distributed ant genus is limited to importantrevisions for the New World and several Asian faunas. However, Pheidole of the Afrotropical zoogeographic region hasnever been revised. The most recent Afrotropical Pheidole species descriptions are fifty years old and many are consider-ably older. Identification keys are not available and many species descriptions are of limited diagnostic value. This callsfor a series of taxonomic revisions in order to resolve the complicated taxonomic situation for the complete AfrotropicalPheidole fauna. In this paper the following preliminary morphological species groups for the Afrotropical region are de-fined: P. aurivillii group, P. excellens group, P. megacephala group, P. nigeriensis group, and P. speculifera group. We also establish and revise the P. pulchella group, which currently contains eleven species, of which seven are new. The four spe-cies described prior to this study are: P. pulchella Santschi, P. dea Santschi, P. nimba Bernard, and P. batrachorum Wheelerstat. rev., which is removed from synonymy under P. dea and regains species status. The following new synonymy isproposed (senior synonym listed first): P. pulchella Santschi = P. pulchella achantella Santschi. The following seven spe-cies are described as new: P. christinae sp. n., P. darwini, sp. n., P. glabrella sp. n., P. heliosa sp. n., P. rebeccae sp. n., P. semidea sp. n. and P. setosa, sp. n. An illustrated key combining the minor and major worker subcastes is presented.References
Arnold, G. (1960) New species of African Hymenoptera No. 15. Occasional Papers of The National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, 3 (No. 24B), 452–488.
Belshaw, R. & Bolton, B. (1993) The effect of forest disturbance on the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana. Biodiversity and Conservation, 2, 656–666.
Bernard, F. (1953) La réserve naturelle intégrale du Mt Nimba. XI. Hyménoptères Formicidae. Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire, 19, 105.
Blaimer, B.B. (2010) Taxonomy and natural history of the Crematogaster (Decacrema)-group in Madagascar. Zootaxa, 2714, 1–39.
Bolton, B. (1994) Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. 224 pp.
Bolton, B. (2003) Synopsis and classification of Formicidae. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 71, 1–370.
Bolton, B. & Alpert, G. (2009) Pheidole available names. Available from http://academic.evergreen.edu/projects/ants/pheidoleworkinggroup/catalogue/Available_names_20Aug09.xls (accessed 10 May 2011).
Bolton, B. & Fisher, B.L. (2008a) Afrotropical ants of the ponerine genera Centromyrmex Mayr, Promyopias Santschi gen. rev. and Feroponera gen. n., with a revised key to genera of African Ponerinae. Zootaxa, 1929, 1–37.
Bolton, B. & Fisher, B.L. (2008b) The Afrotropical ponerine ant genus Phrynoponera Wheeler. Zootaxa, 1892, 35–52.
Bolton, B. & Fisher, B.L. (2008c) Afrotropical ants of the ponerine genera Centromyrmex Mayr, Promyopias Santschi gen. rev. and Feroponera gen. n., with a revised key to genera of African Ponerinae. Zootaxa, 1929, 1–37.
Bolton, B. & Fisher, B.L. (2011) Taxonomy of Afrotropical and West Palaearctic ants of the ponerine genus Hypoponera Santschi. Zootaxa, 2843, 1–118.
Deblauwe, I. & Dekoninck, W. (2007) Diversity and distribution of ground-dwelling ants in a lowland rainforest in southeast Cameroon. Insectes Sociaux, 54, 334–342.
Eguchi, K. (2000) Two new Pheidole species with a 5-segmented antennal club. Entomological Science, 3, 687–692.
Eguchi, K. (2001a) A revision of the Bornean species of the ant genus Pheidole. Tropics, 2, 1–155.
Eguchi, K. (2001b) A taxonomic study on Asian Pheidole (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): New synonymy, rank Changes, lectotype designations and redescriptions. Insecta Koreana, 18, 1–35.
Eguchi, K. (2003) A study on the male genitalia of some Asian species of Pheidole (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae). Sociobiology, 41, 317–355.
Eguchi, K. (2006a) Pheidole schoedli sp.n., a subterranean species found from North Borneo. Myrmecologische Nachrichten, 8, 31–34.
Eguchi, K. (2006b) Six new species of Pheidole Westwood from North Vietnam. Revue Suisse De Zoologie, 113, 115–131.
Eguchi, K. (2008) A revision of Northern Vietnamese species of the ant genus Pheidole. Zootaxa, 1902, 1–118.
Eguchi, K. & Bui, T.V. (2005) A new South Vietnamese species of the genus Pheidole with a truncated head in the major and queen. Sociobiology, 45, 721–730.
Eguchi, K., Yamane, S. & Zhou, S.Y. (2007) Taxonomic revision of the Pheidole rinae Emery complex. Sociobiology, 50, 257–284.
Emery, C. (1915) Les Pheidole du groupe megacephala (Formicidae). Revue de Zoologie Africaine, 4, 223–250.
Evenhuis, N.L. (2009) The insect and spider collections of the world website. http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/codens (accessed 18 May 2010).
Fisher, B.L. (2004) Diversity patterns of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) along an elevational gradient on Monts Doudou in southwestern Gabon. California Academy of Sciences Memoir, 28, 269–286.
Fisher, B.L. (2009) Two new dolichoderine ant genera from Madagascar: Aptinoma gen. n. and Ravavy gen. n. Zootaxa, 2118, 37–52.
Fisher, B.L. & Smith, M.A. (2008) A revision of Malagasy species of Anochetus Mayr and Odontomachus Latreille. Plos One, 3, 1–23.
Güsten, R., Schulz, A. & Sanetra, M. (2006) Redescription of Tetramorium forte Forel, 1904, a western Mediterranean ant species. Zootaxa, 1310, 1–35.
Heterick, B. (2006) A revision of the Malagasy ants belonging to genus Monomorium Mayr, 1855. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 57, 69–202.
Hita Garcia, F., Fischer, G. & Peters, M.K. (2010) Taxonomy of the Tetramorium weitzeckeri species group in the Afrotropical zoogeographical region. Zootaxa, 2704, 1–90.
Hita Garcia, F., Fischer, G., Peters, M.K., Snelling, R.R. & Wägele, J.W. (2009) A preliminary checklist of the ants of Kakamega Forest (Kenya). Journal of East African Natural History, 98, 147–165.
LaPolla, J.S., Cheng, C.H. & Fisher, B.L. (2010) Taxonomic revision of the ant genus Paraparatrechina in the Afrotropical and Malagasy Regions. Zootaxa, 2387, 1–27.
Longino, J.T. (2009) Additions to the taxonomy of New World Pheidole. Zootaxa, 2046, 1–90.
Moreau, C.S. (2008) Unravelling the evolutionary history of the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 48, 224–239.
Santschi, F. (1910) Formicides nouveaux ou peu connus du Congo Français. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 78, 53.
Santschi, F. (1921) Quelques nouveaux formicides africains. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, 61, 11.
Santschi, F. (1930) Description de formicides éthiopiens nouveaux ou peu connus. V. Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, 70, 49–77
Santschi, F. (1939) Fourmis de Rhodesia et du Congo. Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, 79, 237–246.
Sarnat, E.M. (2008) A taxonomic revision of the Pheidole roosevelti-group in Fiji. Zootaxa, 1767, 1–36.
Serna, F. & Mackay, W. (2010) A descriptive morphology of the ant genus Procryptocerus. Journal of Insect Science, 10, 1–36.
Snelling, R.R. (2007) A review of the arboreal Afrotropical ant genus Axinidris. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 551–579.
Ward, P.S. (2000) Broad-scale patterns of diversity in leaf-litter ant communities. In: D. Agosti, J. D. Majer, L.E. Alonso & T.R. Schultz (Eds.), Ants. Standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp. 99–121.
Ward, P. S. (2007) Phylogeny, classification, and species-level taxonomy of ants. Zootaxa, 549–563.
Weiser, M.D. & Kaspari, M. (2006) Ecological morphospace of New World ants. Ecological Entomology, 31, 131–142.
Westwood, J.O. (1839) An introduction to the modern classification of insects; founded on the natural habits and corresponding organisation of the different families. Volume 2. Part XI. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, pp. 193–224.
Wheeler, W.M. (1922) The ants collected by the American Museum Congo Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 45, 39–269.
Wilson, E.O. (1976) Which are the most prevalent ant genera? Studia Entomologica, 19, 187–200.
Wilson, E.O. (1984) Tropical social parasites in the ant genus Pheidole, with an analysis of the anatomical parasite syndrome. Insectes Sociaux, 31, 316–334.
Wilson, E.O. (2003) Pheidole in the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Ant Genus. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 794 pp.
Yoshimura, M. & Fisher, B.L. (2007) A revision of male ants of the Malagasy region: Key to subfamilies and treatment of the genera of Ponerinae. Zootaxa, 1654, 21–40.
Yoshimura, M. & Fisher, B.L. (2009) A revision of male ants of the Malagasy region: Key to genera of the subfamily Proceratiinae. Zootaxa, 2216, 1–21.
Yoshimura, M. & Fisher, B.L. (2011) A revision of male ants of the Malagasy region: Key to genera of the subfamily Dolichoderinae. Zootaxa, 2794, 1–34.