• Subspecies of Pheidole variabilis: Emery, 1914a: 180; Emery, 1922c: 97; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 79; Taylor, 1987a: 54; Bolton, 1995b: 329.
• Status as species: Berry et al., 1997: 29; Don, 2007: 131; Sarnat et al., 2015: 70 (redescription); Heterick, 2021: 14.
• Senior synonym of Pheidole proxima bombalensis: Heterick, 2021: 14.

Junior synonyms

• Pheidole proxima bombalensis Forel, 1910

Obsolete combinations

• Pheidole variabilis rugosula

Citations

• Berry, J. A.; Green, O. R.; Shattuck, S. O. 1997. Species of Pheidole Westwood (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) established in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 24:25-33. PDF
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp.
• Don, W. 2007. Ants of New Zealand. Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press, 239 pp.
• Emery, C. 1914a. Formiche d'Australia e di Samoa raccolte dal Prof. Silvestri nel 1913. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 8:179-186. PDF
• Emery, C. 1922c. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [part]. Genera Insectorum 174B:95-206. PDF
• Forel, A. 1902j. Fourmis nouvelles d'Australie. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 10:405-548. PDF
• Heterick, B. E. 2021. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part I: Systematics. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 86:245 pp. 10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2021.001-245 PDF
• Sarnat, E. M.; Fischer, G.; Guénard, B.; Economo, E. P. 2015. Introduced Pheidole of the world: taxonomy, biology and distribution. ZooKeys 543:1-109. 10.3897/zookeys.543.6050 PDF
• Taylor, R. W. 1987a. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41:1-92. PDF
• Taylor, R. W.; Brown, D. R. 1985. Formicoidea. Zoological Catalogue of Australia 2:1-149, 306-348.