Species: Pheidole sculptior

Forel, A., 1893:
[[ worker ]] [[ soldier ]] [[ queen ]]. (No. 35 a a 35 h).
[[ soldier ]]. Differe de la P. flavens v. vincentensis par sa tete entierement sculptee, jusqu'au bord posterieur; les angles occipitaux sont densement reticules-ponctues et mats. Le thorax est aussi plus mat et reticule-ponctue entre les rides. L'occiput n'est lisse et luisant qu'autour du bord articulaire. La couleur est aussi d'un jaune roussatre plus clair. Du reste identique a la variete prece- dente. Cette race ressemble beaucoup a la P. lignicola, Mayr, mais les scapes sont beaucoup plus courts et n'atteignent que la moitie de la distance de l'articulation de l'antennae a l'angle occipital (les 2 / 3 chez la lignicola ); les pattes sont aussi plus courtes et les scapes moins renfles.
[[ worker ]]. Identique a celle de la variete precedente.
[[ queen ]]. Tete striee-ridee et mate jusqu'a l'articulation occipitale (lisse et luisante autour de l'articulation occipitale, entre elle et le bord posterieur, chez la P. flavens v. vincentensis ),
(35). Not common. Small communities found in forest or open land, under sticks or stones, loamy soil; occasionally in rotten wood. The workers major and females are very sluggish; workers minor less so, but not active. The workers major are not numerous. The formicarium appears to consist of a single small chamber, with passage for exit.
(35 a). Near Fort Charlotte, Kingstown; in scrubby growth, 500 ft. above sea. Oct. 24 th. Under a stone. Colony of perhaps 200.
(35 b). Bowwood Valley, near Kingstown, 800 ft. Oct. 20 th. Open hill-side, under a stone. A single female.
(35 c). Southern end of the island; Villa Estate. Oct. 14 th. Nest under rotten wood, near the seashore.
(35 d). Wallibou (leeward), seashore thickets. Oct. 10 th. Small colony under a stone.
(35 e). Forest above Chateaubelais, 1000 ft. Oct. 11 th. Small nest under a stick. (Workers only referred to this species).
(35 f). Petit Bordelle Valley, 1200 ft. Nov. 13 th. Shady banks of stream; under sod on a rock. Small colony.
(35 g). Petit Bordelle Valley, 1600 ft. Nov. 13 th. Clearing in rotten wood.
(35 h). Windward side; sandy, open valley of the Dry River, near the sea. Jan. 2 nd. A single female, found under a stone.

Wilson, E. O.:
Pheidole flavens r. sculptior Forel 1893j: 414.
Etymology L sculptior , more engraved, presumably with reference to the more extensive sculpturing of the major head.
diagnosis A member of the " flavens complex" within the larger flavens group, comprising asperithorax , breviscapa , cardiella , chloe , exigua , flavens , goeldii , moerens , mittermeieri , nuculiceps , pholeops , sculptior , striaticeps , and trinitatis , differing in the following combination of traits.
Major: carinulae originating on frontal lobes and mesad to frontal carinae travel all the way to the occipital border, turning slightly away from the midline as they progress; shallow antennal scrobes present, their surfaces foveolate and opaque and bearing carinulae inside their anterior half; in dorsal-oblique view, promesonotal dorsal profile is weakly bilobous and descends posteriorly through a gentle gradient to the metanotal groove; pronotal dorsum foveolate and opaque, entirely lacking in carinulae; postpetiolar node trapezoidal viewed from above.
Minor: close to flavens , with carinulae restricted to anterior half of head, and all of head, mesosoma, and side of waist foveolate and opaque.
Measurements (mm) Lectotype major: HW 0.78, HL 0.78, SL 0.42, EL 0.10, PW 0.34. Paralectotype minor: HW 0.38, HL 0.42, SL 0.36, EL 0.06, PW 0.24.
Color Major: mandibles and most of body light brownish yellow; gaster, antennae, and legs medium yellow. Minor: concolorous yellow.
Range Recorded by Kempf (1972b) from Puerto Rico, Martinique, St. Vincent, Trinidad, and Venezuela. I have confirmed series from Puerto Rico, St. Vincent, Trinidad, and Suriname.
biology On St. Vincent in the early 1890s, the avid collector H. H. Smith (in Forel 1893j) found sculptior to be relatively scarce but very adaptable in habitat. Ranging from sea level to 500 m, it occurred in forests, seashore thickets, and open land. Nests were in loamy soil under pieces of dead wood or stones; one was found in a piece of rotten wood. The colonies were small, in one instance noted by Smith comprising about 200 workers. On Grenada in 1995, Stefan Cover and I found a colony under a rock in a banana plantation at 300 m. On Trinidad, Cover found two other colonies under the bark of rotting logs. A male was present with one of the latter on 19 May, and a winged queen with a Puerto Rico colony collected by J. A. Torres on 26 November.
Figure Upper: lectotype, major. Lower: paralectotype, minor. ST. VINCENT, WEST INDIES (H. H. Smith). Scale bars = 1 mm.