Pheidole providens (Sykes)

MAJOR MINOR Type location India (Atta providens Sykes 1835: 103, illustrated major worker; in Pheidole, Westwood, 1839: 219; possible senior synonym of P. indica, Bingham, 1903: 220, footnote) from Poona, collector Sykes; junior synonyms indica (Mayr, 1879: 679, soldier, worker & queen; Forel, 1902c: 199, male; see also Bingham, 1903: 263; Menozzi, 1939a: 298; and, Ogata, 1982: 196) from India, new synoymy; subspecies coonoorensis (Pheidole indica var. coonoorensis new variety, Forel, 1902c: 185, soldier) from India; himalayana (Pheidole indica var. himalayana new variety, Forel, 1902c: 185, soldier, 199, worker & male; raised to species by Bingham, 1903: 264; subspecies of indica in Emery, 1921f: 91 (catalogue), Menozzi, 1939a: 298, and Pisarski, 1967: 385) from India; and, rotschana (Pheidole indica var. rotschana new variety, Forel, 1902c: 185, soldier; raised to species by Bingham, 1903: 264; subspecies of indica Forel, 1909e: 394, and, Forel, 1911i: 222) from India .

Ogata also listed Pheidole striativentris Mayr, 1879: 678. INDIA, Calcutta, as a new synonym of P. indica. Mayr (1879: 675) clearly set out the separation of the major workers in his key and in his description gave the gaster as with the basal third sculptured with striations. Mayr (1879) gave the sizes as: major worker, TL 4.5-5.5 mm; minor worker, TL 2.9-3.0 mm; queen, TL 8.5 mm.

Sykes's (1835) description of providens is at . Mayr's (1879) description of indica is at . Forel's (1902c) descriptions of coonoorensis, himalayana and rotschana, all minor workers, plus a male of rotschana, are at . with his key separation of majors at . Bingham's (1903) description is at . Menozzi's (1939a) record and key is at . Ogata's (1982) key is at .

Atta providens Sykes 1835: 103, illustrated major worker, type location India, Poona.

Bingham (1903: 220, footnote) stated - "Neither Sykes's original description nor subsequent descriptions by Westwood or Jerdon are sufficiently detailed to allow of the species named "providens" by Sykes to be discriminated from "indicus", Mayr, but it probably was "providens" that Mayr re-named".

It seems from his comments that Bingham had not seen the original Sykes publication, as the illustration on Plate XIII, albeit wrongly labelled in the original text section, is very good. The photographs of majors we show on the linked page, including the JAL example, are near identical. Sykes's measurements of TL 2¾.lines, head (lat.corp) width 1 line, i.e 5.8 mm, 2.1 mm, perhaps are larger than usually reported.
From the Latin, the description is - Black, head "magno", mandibles and antennae blackish, tarsi yellowish. Head very large, squarish-oblong, occiput emarginate, piceous black. Mandible widely arcuate, apex truncate, two major teeth, other teeth minute. Antennae black, 3-segmented club. Alitrunk short, sub-bipartite, convex in front and posterior bispinose. Petiole node squamate, apex transverse. Postpetiole raised in profile, laterally produced sharply. Gaster globose. Legs with femora and tibia piceous, tarsi pale.

Thus, we are confident in regarding Pheidole indica as a junior synonym of providens.

With the availability of a reasonable quantity of fresh specimens from Egypt and Israel, the link pages give fresh photographs and descriptions of
Major workers and Minor workers

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

Notes. From the very short description, key and illustration, we surmise this is the species reported as P. teneriffana from Saudi Arabia by Collingwood (1985) and Collingwood & Agosti (1996).