Taxonomy and distribution of the genus Trichomyrmex Mayr, 1865 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula, with the description of two new species

  • Mostafa R. Sharaf Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, P. O. Box 2460
  • Shehzad Salman Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, P. O. Box 2460
  • Hathal M. Al Dhafer Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, P. O. Box 2460
  • Shahid A. Akbar Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
  • Mahmoud S. Abdel-Dayem Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, P. O. Box 2460
  • Abdulrahman S. Aldawood Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, P. O. Box 2460
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2016.246
Keywords: Myrmicinae, Palearctic Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, key, new record

Abstract

The ant genus Trichomyrmex Mayr, 1865 is revised for the Arabian Peninsula based on the worker caste. Nine species are recognized and descriptions of two new species, T. almosayari sp. nov. and T. shakeri sp. nov. from Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia, are given. For nomenclatural stability, lectotypes for T. abyssinicus (Forel, 1894a), T. lameerei (Forel, 1902) and T. mayri (Forel, 1902) are designated. A key to species and diagnostic characters of the treated species are presented. New country records are presented for T. abyssinicus (Saudi Arabia), T. destructor (Jerdon, 1851) (Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and T. mayri (Qatar). New distributional records for T. destructor and T. mayri for Saudi Arabia are also provided. World and regional species distributions are indicated and distributional maps for nine Arabian species are included. Ecological and biological information is given when known.

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Published
2016-11-24
How to Cite
Sharaf, M. R., Salman, S., Al Dhafer, H. M., Akbar, S. A., Abdel-Dayem, M. S., & Aldawood, A. S. (2016). Taxonomy and distribution of the genus Trichomyrmex Mayr, 1865 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula, with the description of two new species. European Journal of Taxonomy, (246). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2016.246
Issue
No. 246 (2016): Taxonomy and distribution of the genus Trichomyrmex Mayr, 1865 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula, with the description of two new species
Section
Entomology
Copyright (c) 2016 Mostafa R. Sharaf, Shehzad Salman, Hathal M. Al Dhafer, Shahid A. Akbar, Mahmoud S. Abdel-Dayem, Abdulrahman S. Aldawood

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