Pheidole katonae Forel

Type location Tanzania (Pheidole sculpturata Mayr subsp. Katonae n. subsp., Forel, 1907a: 21, minor - see below; Menozzi & Consani, 1952: 62, major - not listed in Bolton, 1995; nor by Collingwood, 1985, Collingwood & Agosti, 1996); major (?) and minor workers described .

Forel's (1907a) description is at . Menozzi & Consani's (1952) description of the major is at .

Note: Given the small size of the type worker, TL 2.2 mm (Forel, 1907a), the supposed major described by Menozzi & Consani (1952) as TL 8.7-9.0 mm, HW = HL = 3 mm, is almost certainly not the major of katonae.

The type minor, however, appears identical to that of Pheidole bequaerti Forel 1913b.  If so, this would be the senior synonym. The major of P. bequaerti has TL 2.5 mm, HL 1.15, HW 1.09, SL 0.59, PW 0.50; CI 96, SI 54.

Collingwood (1985), describing specimens from Saudi Arabia, provided the illustration, right, of the pedicel dorsum. He noted postpetiole wider than long, distinctly dentate at widest point, promesonotal outline broken by a distinct mesonotal ridge, funiculus segments 2, 3 & 4 longer than broad; specimens with major HW 2.2 - 3.0 mm; large heads slightly longer than wide, clear red with longitudinal striae fading out on the occiput. Found nesting under a stone and as individual foragers. Later, Collingwood & Agosti (1996) separated katonae as a separate species, in which the appendages have decumbent pubescence and the head sculpturation is weak and stated the earlier reference to Pheidole sculpturata was an error. While Collingwood & Agosti probably associated the majors with the Menozzi & Consani "katonae", to which the dimensions match, it is unlikely that the type is known from Saudi Arabia. It may well match those I, too, thought might be but now recognise as Pheidole ruspolii from Ethiopia.

The photomontage is of the type minor worker collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0249072