478 Annals of the South African Museum. 



P. caffra, Emery. 

 Ami. Soc. Ent. France, vol. 63, p. 33, %, 1895. 



"1/. 4*5 mm.; head, 17 mm. x T6 mm. Ferruginous, dull, 

 abdomen piceous and shining. Head depressed behind, narrowly 

 and deeply excised, very closely punctate above, dull, the occipital 

 margin shining, the anterior two-thirds evenly and longitudinally 

 rugose ; the frontal carinae prolonged backwai'ds, antennal scrobes as 

 long as the scapes ; clypeus with a short carina, barely striate, excised 

 in the middle ; mandibles sparsely punctured, striate at the base 

 externally. Thorax transversely rugulose, the pronotum indistinctly 

 bigibbose, the mesonotum with a transverse torus, the epinotum 

 longitudinally grooved above, the spines fairly long, not very acute at 

 the apex. First node of petiole emarginate above, the 2nd node 

 Avider, transverse, the sides obtusely conical. Legs shining, with 

 oblique pubescence. 



" Hamman's Kraal (Simon)." 



" On a number of points this form agrees fairly well with the 



description of P. aspera (Mayr), which I have not seen. It differs 

 markedly from it by the emarginate clypeus. Mayr does not state 

 that in his species the head is depressed behind, nor that the frontal 

 carinae are prolonged backwards — characters which separate caffra 

 from most of the African species of Pheidole and unite it with certain 

 Indian forms such as latinoda, rhombinoda, Feai, etc. The head of 

 caffra is barely longer than wide, its sides fairly parallel over the 

 anterior two-thirds ; further back the sides converge a little ; the large 

 occipital lobes are separated by a deep emargi nation. Seen from the 

 side, the head appears distinctly depressed in its posterior third, the 

 profile of which is oblique. On the median line, which is marked by 

 a distinct groove, there is a wide impression, recognisable only in a 

 certain light. The sculpture of the head consists of a fundamental 

 reticulate puncturation, over which are imposed some trenchant rugae, 

 very regular and longitudinal on the frons, less regular, thicker and 

 anastomosed on the sides ; these rugae extend as far as the frontal 

 carinae, i. e. as far as the posterior fourth of the head. The scrobes 

 are as long as the scape and are formed by a space between two rugae, 

 wider than the othei's, one of which is the prolongation of the frontal 

 carinae. On the occiput the punctures are intermixed with rugae and 

 large piligerous foveae. The whole thorax is finely punctured and 

 transversely rugulose. Petiole with piligerous foveae only ; abdomen 

 shining, very finely punctulate, more strongly so at the base, which is 

 dull; in addition, it has some elongate piligerous punctures. The legs 



