Pheidole aurivillii Mayr

Major - Minor - Type location Cameroun (Ph. Aurivilli nov. spec., Mayr, 1896: 238, major & minor; Santschi, 1910c: 369, male) collector Y. Sjöstedt; subspecies attenuata (P. Aurivilli Mayr var attenuata, nov., Santschi, 1910c: 370, major & minor) from Congo (M'Piaka, by Weiss); kasaiensis (Pheidole Aurivilli Mayr sbsp. Kasaiensis n. subsp., Forel, 1911f: 279, major & minor; plus unavailable name Pheidole Aurivilli Mayr r. kasaiensis For., v. Amalricae n. var., Forel, 1915c: 335, major & minor) collected at Kondué by Luja, and rubricalva (Pheidole Aurivilli Mayr v. rubricalva n. var., Forel, 1915c: 337, major & minor) collected at St. Gabriel, by H Kohl, both from Zaïre; major, minor and male described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Mayr's (1896) description of the major is at and of the minor at . Forel's (1915c) description of amalricae is at . Forel's (1915c) description of rubricalva is at . Forel's (1911fg) description of kasaiensis is at . Forel's (1916) description of kasaiensis is at .

Named after Professor Chr. Aurivillius; originally thought by Mayr (1866) to be Ph. punctulata.

Santschi (1910c), with the first description of the male, noted how the species shows much variability in length and colour; the type forms of Mayr, had a major TL of 4.6-5.0 but he had several times received specimens from around Brazzaville which had a TL of 4.3-4.6, and from M'Piaka the TL was only 3.7-4.0; the colour could be from darkish yellow to dark brown black; he designated the small dark form as attenuata.

Wheeler (1922) listed the nominal species also from Guinea (Kakoulima, F. Silvestri) and several Congo Basin localities; plus kasaiensis from Nigeria (Lagos, W.A. Lamborn). He described how attenuata were taken from a colony under the bark of a fallen tree. Majors were TL 3.5-4 mm and minors 2-2.5 mm and very dark; the type form major was TL 4.6-5 mm and the minor TL 3 mm, but Santschi had noted the variability. Santschi (1935) also saw 1 major and 1 minor from Kunungu, Zaïre.

Forel's (1911f) description of subspecies kasaiensis was -
MAJOR - TL 4.8-5; head larger than the type (HL 1.7, HW 1.6-1.7), sides more convex, less narrowed posteriorly, with the occipital impression deeper and scapes slightly shorter. Occipital sculpture less punctate, more rugulose and more areolate. Otherwise similar, but colour uncertain as description based on an immature specimen; he later adds presumably as the minor.
MINOR - TL 3-3.4; head about one-third longer than wide, more elongated and not so narrowed posteriorly; otherwise form a typical minor. Head somewhat grossly rugulose and reticulate on the sides up to the frontal carinae; frontal area smooth; sides of head finely sculpted as with type. Colour brown black, tibiae and scapes clearer brown; appendages rust-red.
Specimens from Zaïre, Kasai, Kondué by Luja.

On amalricae, Forel (1915c) noted it as an intermediate between kasaiensis and the type -
MAJOR - TL 4.1-4.6; larger than type; darker than type; head also wider and the sides a little more convex than kasaiensis; more matt and more grossly sculptured; propodeal spines shorter; occiput with stronger rugo-reticulation.
MINOR - TL 2.9-3.2; more like type than kasaiensis; with an intermediate colour but stronger sculpturation; subopaque, reticulated, with sparse large punctures.
Collected by Kohl, at St. Gabriel, Kisangani, Zaïre; from in a hollow branch and in a carton nest between leaves.

In the same paper, Forel described rubricalva -
MAJOR - TL 3.5-3.6; head red, antenna clear brown, rest dark brown; otherwise as type.
MINOR - TL 2.5-2.8; entirely dark brown with appendages reddish; larger than type, with a much wider head, especially the occiput; sculpture also stronger.
Also collected at St. Gabriel by Kohl, in a nest between two leaves and made with soil and vegetable debris.

With the availability of the images of the type major of Pheidole picata, I strongly suspect the Bernard records, etc., of the "Ph. picata" are actually aurivilli.

The photomontage is of a major specimen from Ghana, collected by Sky Stephens, 2006. Other images can be seen in the folder at -