Pheidole abyssinica Forel - new status

Type location Ethiopia (Pheidole caffra Emery subsp. abyssinica n. subsp., Forel 1910c: 254, major & minor) - see below
junior synonym (here)
amoena (Pheidole caffra Em. v. amoena n. var., Forel, 1911d: 365, major) from Eritrea - see https://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0907815 .

Forel's (1910c) description is at . Forel's (1911d) description of amoena is at . Santschi (1939b) gave an illustrated comparison of the type caffra with montivaga and abyssinica, this is at .

The last indicates that abyssinica is not a subspecies of Pheidole caffra. The photomontage below shows this to be correct and I regard it as a separate species. The elongated shape of the head with very short scapes; overall sculpturation becoming reticulate on the occiput; and the postpetiole which is a laterally widened narrow oval in doral view, are all quite different from caffra. The modern specimens match the Forel descriptions.  The arrangement of hypostomal teeth on the major place it with megacephala.

There is a quandary, however.  The supposed cotype worker from the Smithsonian Institute collection, which is matched by the fresh majors I show from Ethiopia and Sudan, differs from the Antweb major, labelled as a type from the Forel collection.  The colour distortion typical of almost all Antweb images does not help but that major is some 18% larger in all aspects, has distinctly longer propodeal spines and appears to have a laterally elongated postpetiole in dorsal view. The Antweb type minor also differs from the Ethiopia minor worker that I show, most notably in the shape of the head.

The photomontage of a type major worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0907816.

TL ca 6 mm, HL 2.0, HW 1.92 (Forel TL 4.5-5.5 mm,  HL 2.0, HW 1.7)

The photomontage of a type minor worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0907817. TL ca 2.8 mm, HL 0.64, HW 0.54, CI 90, SI 132

The photomontage of a cotype major (HL 1.83, HW 1.5) is collated from The Smithsonian Institute images at http://ripley.si.edu/ent/nmnhtypedb/public/specimeninfopage.cfm?publicconsumption=1&typespecimenID=896 where the label is erroneous.

The photomontage is of a minor from Ethiopia, sent to me by Peter Hlavac and in his personal collection.

The photomontage is of a male from the same collection in Ethiopia, sent to me by Peter Hlavac and in his personal collection. May be Pheidole caffra.