Pheidole crinensis Taylor new species

Type location Nigeria

DESCRIPTION OF MAJOR WORKER: Frontal carinae reaching just short of the midpoint of the head; scapes distinctly curved; alitrunk with only a low transverse welt; propodeal spines short and acute; postpetiole width and length about the same; erect hairs moderately abundant; head only faintly spiculate in the soldier but with fine longitudinal carinae or rugulation on most of the anterior half; colour orange, gaster very dark brown.

TL 2.89 mm, HL 1.18, HW 0.93, CI 79, SL 0.50, SI 54, PW 0.44

DESCRIPTION OF MINOR WORKER: Head more or less rectangular with rounded occipital angles; mandibles with two apical teeth and a number of denticles; scapes distinctly curved; alitrunk profile (promesonotum) smoothly domed, propodeum also convex in profile; dorsum of head and entire alitrunk densely spiculate.

TL 1.87 mm, HL 0.47, HW 0.42, CI 90, SI 112, SL 0.47, PW 0.26

Name derived from The Cocoa Research Instiute of Nigeria (CRIN).

Nigeria specimens deposited with the Natural History Museum, London.

Collected by me from under the bark of a tree and in cocoa crevices at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Idi Ayunre (briefly described and drawn in Taylor, 1980a: 19).

Possibly the same species as reported in Ghana cocoa at Kade by Majer (1975, 1976b), using pkd, apparently in two samples with 2-3 workers per sample. A total of 87 workers were found on the ground under Amelonado cocoa at CRIG (two samples under cocoa dominated by Crematogaster clariventris) (Bigger, 1981a).

The code name was used also for specimens reported from Tanzania by Kemp (1951), as sharing the savannah habitat with Pheidole crassinoda but that seems unlikely to be this species.

Collected in Ghana by Sky Stephens and in her personal collection.

Exactly matches my drawing and description.

My source images can be seen in .