Malagasy: Reunion > Myrmicinae > Pheidole > Pheidole megacephala

Species: Pheidole megacephala

Taxonomic Hierarchy:

Subfamily: Myrmicinae Genus: Pheidole

Distribution:

Reunion: For�t de l?Etang-Sale, Grand-Bassin, Grand-Ilet (La Fenetre), La Possession, Le Port, Maido, Saint-Benoit, Saint-Denis, Saint-Philippe, Sainte-Marie, Savanna A cosmopolitan tramp species. In the Malagasy Subregion recorded from the Seychelles (Amirantes, Coetivy, Farquhar), the Comores (Anjouan, Mayotte), Madagascar (Madagascar, Nosy Be), Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agalega and Tromelin.

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2010)

megacephala. Formica megacephala Fabricius, 1793: 361 (s.) no locality given. Latreille, 1802c: 232 (q.); Mayr, 1861: 70 (s.w.q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1953b: 75 (l.). Combination in Pheidole: Roger, 1863b: 30. Senior synonym of trinodis: Roger, 1863b: 30; of edax: Dalla Torre, 1892: 90; Emery, 1892b: 160; of perniciosa: Emery, 1915j: 235; of pusilla (and its junior synonyms janus, laevigata Smith, laevigata Mayr): Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 812; of suspiciosa: Donisthorpe, 1932c: 455; of testacea: Brown, 1981: 530; of agilis: Eguchi, 2008: 56. [P. megalocephala Schulz, 1906: 155; unjustified emendation.] Current subspecies: nominal plus costauriensis, duplex, ilgi, impressifrons, melancholica, nkomoana, rotundata, scabrior, speculifrons, talpa. See also: Eguchi, 2001b: 77; Wilson, 2003: 549.