Subgenus definition Forel (1912i: 91) - with silky appearance, most with a pubescent fleece.
Also clypeus carinate, with a pronounced anterior, usually rectangular, lobe (as Tanaemyrmex); petiole a narrowly nodiform; integument entirely opaque; very finely sculptured, silky and more or less covered with rather abundant pilosity, especially the gaster; nest in earth or sand.
Minors with elongated heads, in some cases highly elongated.

Mike Lush and I had a convoluted correspondence about what is a quite poorly defined set of species. This we hope has led to a sound key. [See AntBlog: http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/ for more]

Emery (1895h) provided a key to what he regarded as subspecies and varieties of rufoglaucus. This is at . Arnold (1924) gave a general description of the Genus characters - this is at and provided a key to - .

Provisional Key to species

1	Entirely black; gaster with weak pubescence	2
--	Pubescence on gaster very dense hiding colour and sculpture; if not then head partly red	3
.	Entirely black; gaster with weak pubescence	-
2	Erect hairs black; minor head bizarrely elongated	2A
--	Erect hairs pale; minor head not elongated	2B
2A	Major TL 9.5 mm; fundamental sculpture reticulo-punctate but finer than petersii; almost all black Minor with highly elongated head	.
.		South Africa - angusticeps
--	Major TL 13.2-15 mm; scapes and tibiae flattened; fundamental sculpture reticulo-punctate; black with appendages ferruginous Minor TL 9.5-10 mm; with highly elongated head
.	janus major	.
.	Minor	Southern Africa - petersii
2B	Major TL 11.0-12 mm; scapes and tibiae flattened but less than petersii; erect hairs black	.
.	Minor	Southern Africa - eugeniae
--	Erect hairs pale - minor only known	Zaire - amplior
-	Pubescence on gaster very dense hiding colour and sculpture; if not then head partly red	-
3	Propodeum with dorsum concave	4
--	Propodeum with dorsum not concave	5
-	Propodeum with dorsum concave	-
4	Major TL 7.0-8.7 mm; propodeum deeply concave; dorsal edge of petiole scale subacuminate; overall brownish-red, gaster blackish-brown; pubescence on gaster greyish-white with slight yellow tint	.
.	Minor TL 5.3-6.5	South Africa - valdeziae
--	Major TL 7.7-10 mm; propodeum shallowly concave; petiole scale with straight dorsal edge; mostly yellowish brick-red to dark brick-red, gaster dark brown; pubescence on gaster pale greyish-golden arranged laterally to give appearance of dark and light bands. Minor TL ca 7 mm.	.
.		.
.		Pan-African - vestitus
-	Propodeum with dorsum not concave	-
5	Major TL 8-9 mm; propodeum distinctly angular specially in the major; tibiae weakly compressed, petiole scale high and narrow, apex medianly flattened; tibiae strongly compressed; essentially black, with anterior of head and appendages dark red. Media TL 7 mm. Minor TL 5.5-6 mm	.
.	Minor	Mozambique, Zaire, Rwanda, Ethiopia - cinctellus
--	Propodeum with a rounded transition from dorsum to declivity	6
-	Propodeum with a smoothly rounded transition from dorsum to declivity	-
6	Pubescence on gaster greyish-golden, sometimes weakly convergent towards midline; pubescence . Minor with anterior margin of clypeus with a quite sharply angled midpoint	flavomarginatus-group 7
	Pubescence golden or golden yellow, converging towards distinct mid-line on gaster dorsum. Minor with anterior margin of clypeus shallowly arcuate. Seemingly all with distinct subcephalic hairs, perhaps forming a weak psammophore	rufoglaucus-group 8
-	flavomarginatus-group	-
7	Base colour almost entirely black; the mandibles are generally reddish-brown; the scapes and funiculi tend to have variable lighter areas Major TL 9.00 mm, HL 2.49, HW 2.49, SL 1.93, PW 1.52 Minor TL 5.76 mm, HL 1.43, HW 1.12, SL 1.87, PW 1.03	.
.		Pan-African - flavomarginatus
--	Minor TL ca 8 mm; pronotum and forecoxae without erect hairs; gaster with uniform covering of pubescence; tibiae distinctly compressed	Zimbabwe & Rwanda - contraria
--	Minor only described; TL 6.0 mm; extremely finely sculptured and moderately shiny; with all over very fine yellowish pubescence; generally rust-yellow with extremiities and most of appendages brownish - perhaps the senior synonym of contraria	Zanzibar - Tanzania - druryi
-	rufoglaucus-group	-
8	Tibiae strongly compressed	9
--	Tibiae not strongly compressed; head black or brown	10
9	Tibiae strongly compressed; head and part of the alitrunk red (African type form, inc syphax ?); Major TL 9-10 mm;	.
.		Congo major
.	Minor TL 7 mm	Zaire and eastern Africa - rufoglaucus.
--	TL 7.5-11 mm; most of body and petiole red	Tanzania west across Congo Basin & Gambia - controversus
10	Major large, TL 9.0-9.5 mm; elongated, black; Minor TL 7 mm	zulu ? ssp of rufoglaucus
--	Major worker, TL 4.5-7.0 mm; gaster with golden fleece, very bright; mainly black (fresh specimen)	.
.	Minor worker (old type specimen)	South Africa - cosmicus
--	ssp pansus major; TL 6.5 mm	.
.	Minor TL 4.0-6.0 mm; alitrunk dorsum vaulted; alitrunk and legs red; gaster black; anterior of head with abundant short erect hairs	East Africa - zimmermanni