Pheidole fervens F.Smith

MAJOR MINOR Type location Singapore (Smith, F. 1858b: 176, soldier & worker; Ogata, 1982: 197, illustration and note on male genitalia);
junior synonyms
cavannae (Pheidole Cavannae n. sp., Emery, 1887b: 40, soldier; synonymy Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 45) from New Caledonia, collector M. Léveillé;
javana (Pheidole javana, nov. spec, Mayr, 1867a: 98, soldier & worker; Viehmeyer, 1916a: 121, queen & male, without description, from Singapore; synonymy Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 45 "fide W. L. Brown) from Indonesia, Java, Batavia, collector Herr. Moens;
nigriscapa (Pheidole oceanica Mayr, v. nigriscapa, var. n., Santschi, 1928a: 48, illustrated, soldier & worker; synonymy Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 45) from Samoa; Apia, collector H Swale;
material of the unavailable name tahitiana (Pheidole oceanica subsp. nigriscapa, var. tahitiana, sp. n., Santschi in Cheesman & Crawley, 1928: 516, worker & soldier; placement and synonymy by Taylor & Wilson, 1967: 45) from Tahiti;
subspecies
desucta (Pheidole javana var. desucta new variety, Wheeler, W. M , 1929f: 2, soldier, worker & queen; status in Bolton, 1995: 320, synonymy by Eguchi, 2001: 54) from China, Back Linag, collector Prof. S. F. Light
dharmsalana (Pheidole javana Mayr var. Dharmsalana n. var., Forel, 1902c: 184, soldier, 192, worker) from India, Dharmsala, collector Sage;
dolenda (Pheidole javana Mayr var. dolenda n. var., Forel, 1912a: 60, soldier & worker) from Taiwan
jacobsoni (Pheidole javana Mayr var. jacobsoni n. var., Forel, 1911b: 203, all forms) from Java
jubilans (Pheidole javana Mayr var. jubilans n. var., Forel, 1911b: 202, soldier & worker) from Java, Semarang
pectinata (Pheidole javana Mayr var. pectinata n. v., Stitz, 1912: 504, soldier) from Indonesia, Ceram I., collector Tauern
proteus (Pheidole javana Mayr, subsp. Proteus n. subsp., Forel, 1912n: 55, soldier) from Indonesia, Sumatra
soror (Pheidole javana Mayr, st. soror n. st., Santschi, 1937h: 369, illustrated, soldier & worker) from Taiwan, Hokuto, collector K Sato. .

New synonymy - subjugation of Pheidole teneriffana Forel, see below.

From the original short description this may well be the Formica edax of Forskål, 1775: 85, worker) from Egypt see see card. If the original specimens have survived and this were shown to be correct it would be the senior name. Bolton (1995: 320) cited Formica edax as a junior synonym of P. megacephala, synonymy by Emery (1892b: 160) and Dalla Torre (1892: 90). Emery, however, did not synonymize it but merely speculated it was "é senza dubbio una piccola Pheidole e forse la Ph. megacephala". Dalla Torre's claim seems similarly speculative from an author who otherwise did no ant taxonomy.

F Smith's (1858b) description is at . Mayr's (1867a) description of javana is at . Emery's (1887b) description of cavannae is at . Forel's (1902c) description of dharmsalana is at . Forel's (1911b) description of jacobsoni is at . Forel's (1911b) description of jubilans is at . Forel's (1912a) description of dolenda is at . Stitz's (1912a) description of pectinata is at . Forel's (1912n) description of proteus is at . Santschi's (1928a) description of nigriscapa is at . Santschi's (1928) description of tahitiana is at . Wheeler's (1929f) description of desucta is at . Wilson & Taylor's (1967) note is at . Ogata's (1982) note and key for Japan is at . Eguchi's (2001) note is at .

Note - in their synonymic list, Wilson & Taylor (1967) gave no indication of having sighted any type material. Eguchi (2001) listed examining only three (F Smith) syntypes; he also examined seven syntypes of desucta.

The sizes given by Eguchi are quite significantly smaller than those given in the original descriptions. For example, F Smith gave the major as TL 2 lines = 4.3 mm, minor TL 1 line = 2.1 mm; Mayr gave the javana length as soldier TL 3.5-3.8 mm, minor TL 2.4 mm; Emery had cavannae as TL 3.67 mm; Santschi (1937h) had javana soror as major TL 3.6-3.7 mm, minor TL 2.7 mm. Eguchi had major TL 2.8-3.4 mm, minor TL 2.2-2.2 mm.

Santschi (1928a) in Cheesman, L. E. and W. C. Crawley. 1928. A contribution towards the insect fauna of French Oceania. - Part III. Formicidae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (10)2, 514-525.

With the availability of fresh specimens from Egypt, Israel, Spain, Canary Islands and the Balearics, the link pages give fresh photographs and descriptions of
Major workers; Minor workers; and, Queens

Revisionary notes on "teneriffana", fervens and providens (j. syn. indica)

Egypt records originally listed as P. teneriffana and likely to include dark, near black, specimens we now regard as Pheidole providens (Sykes) - Santschi (1908, from Cairo by M Borcard); Forel (1913d: 420); Alfieri (1931) listed a great number of findings from all over the country in the October-November 1925 survey of agriculture. Santschi (1934d) in the public gardens of Alexandria, 8.viii.1933, workers.

Sharaf list - Material examined: Sallant (Daqahliya, Egypt), 6.vii.2002 (18 minor workers, 1 ?); Cairo Air Port, 11.x.2002 (4 minor workers, 3?); Ein Sokhna (Suez), 13.ii.1999 (19 minor workers, 1 ?); Gebel Asfar (Qalyubiya), 29.iv.2003 (4 minor worker, 2 ?); Sallant (Daqahliya, Egypt), 28.ii.2003 (1 ?, 20 minor workers, 3 ?); Naser (Beni suef), 29.vi.2003 (6 minor workers, 2 ?); Elqasmia (Belbis), 21.ii.2003 (4 minor workers, 1 ?); Alag (Qalyubiya), 27.ii.2003 (9 minor workers, 1 ?); Faculty of Science, Abbasyia (Cairo), 27.iv.1998 (1?); Shrinkash (Daqahliya, Egypt), 13.v.2003 (3 minor workers, 1 ?); Abuzabal (Qalyubiya), 4.iv.2003 (6 minor workers, 1 ?); Abuzabal (Qalyubiya), 1.i.2002 (10 minor workers, 2 ?); Hawamdyia (Giza), 2.xi.2002 (7 minor workers, 2 ?); Sallant (El-Daqahliya, Egypt), 28.iii.2003 (1 ?, 2 minor workers, 1 ?); Nagh El-Ghalalab (Aswan), 7.iii.2003 (9 minor workers, 2 ?); Ezbet Debbana (El-Daqahliya, Egypt), 29.xii.1997 (1?) (SHC); Sahab (South Sinai), 2.v.1998 (2) Leg.M.R.Sharaf; Marsa Matrouh, 25.iv.1957 (2) (ASUC).

The Mohamad thesis (1979) had - Giza, 30.ix.1919; 15.x.1927; Gezira (Sudan?), 28.viii.1923; Wadi Gharba, 30.iv.1925; Egypt (Det. Crawley, 1927); Kerdasa, 1.x.1933; Cairo, 10.VIII.1936 (Coll.Alf.) Alexandria, 2.iii.1955; Wadi Degla (Helwan), 13.iii.1955; Mansura, 25.iv.1957; Suez, 23.III.1975; Port Fouad, 30.v.1975; Ismailia, 1.viii.1975; Heliopolis (Cairo), 4.vii.1975; Ghardaqa (Red Sea),20.xi.1975; Dakhla oasis (Western desert), 21.i.1975; Belbis (Sharqyia), 21.i.1978; Kharga oasis (Western desert), 23.i.1978; Safaga (Red Sea), 24.i.1978; Quseir (Red Sea), 25.i.1978; Dakhla oasis (Western desert), 21.ii.1978; Baharyia oasis (Western desert),6.iii.1979 (Coll.Ain.) Egypt (Det. Crawley, 1927) (Coll.Min.) Egypt (Det. Crawley, 1927) (Coll.Soc.)