Lepisiota

Mostafa R. Sharaf, Joe Monks, Andrew Polaszek & Abdulrahman S. Aldawood, 2016, A remarkable new species of the genus Lepisiota Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Oman and the United Arab Emirates with a key to the Arabian species, Journal of Natural History 50 (29), pp. 1875-1887 : 8-11

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00222933.2016.1180722

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03968E04-A701-FFD2-60D0-FE66FB391700

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Lepisiota
status

 

Key to Arabian species of Lepisiota View in CoL

Modified from Collingwood and Agosti (1996).

1. Antennal scape long, surpassing the posterior margin of head by half its length or more ............................................................................................................................................................ 2

– Antennal scape shorter, surpassing the posterior margin of head by a third of its length or less ......................................................................................................................................... 18

2. Dorsum of mesosoma and gaster without standing setae; antennal scape exceptionally long; SI ˃ 200 .................................................................................................................................................. 3

– Dorsum of mesosoma with at least one or two pairs of long setae on pronotum; gaster always with some projecting setae; antennal scape shorter; SI <200 ............ 4

3. Unicolourous dark brown or black-brown; body parts of moderate lengths (SI 200 – 205; WL 1.00) ( KSA).................................................... .................................................... riyadha

– Bicoloured species, head and gaster brown; body exceptionally long (SI ˃ 375; WL 1.91) ( Oman, UAE).................................................... .................................................... elegantissima

4. Bicoloured, mesosoma paler than gaster, mainly or entirely reddish ........................... 5 – Whole body dark except a small area of the mesonotum more or less red in a few species....................................................................................................................................................... 10

5. Mesosoma with whole dorsum covered with blunt black setae ( KSA) ............ arabica View in CoL

Mesosoma with one, two or three pairs of fine setae on the pronotum ...................... 6

6. Body sculpture coarse, general appearance opaque ............................................................ 7 –

All parts of the body shining with superficial reticulate sculpture at most.................. 8

7. Colour entirely black; several pairs of long, pale setae on cephalic dorsum, pronotum and gaster; petiole wide, at least 0.33 × HW ( Afghanistan, India)........................ sericea View in CoL

– Bicoloured species, head, mesosoma, petiole and appendages orange, gaster dark brown; body pilosity rare except for long few setae on anterior clypeal margin and sparse appressed pubescence on cephalic dorsum; petiole narrower, less than 0.30 × HW ( Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Lebanon)................................... ................................... bipartita

8. Head and mesosoma uniformly red; propodeum armed with long curved spines ( Oman, Zimbabwe) ........................................................ ........................................................ arenaria View in CoL

– Head darker than mesosoma; propodeum simply dentate, or armed with short, straight spines ........................................................................................................................................ 9

9. Head, petiole and gaster light brown, mesosoma and appendages yellow; mesonotum distinctly narrower anteriorly than posteriorly in dorsal view; propodeal and petiolar spines acute ( KSA) .................................................................................................................. dammama

– Head, petiole and gaster dark brown contrasting with the red mesosoma;

mesonotum characteristically rectangular in dorsal view; propodeal and petiolar spines blunt ( Greece, Iran, Israel, KSA, Turkey) .................................................... dolabellae View in CoL

10. Mesosoma densely sculptured; not shining ................................................................ 11

– Mesosoma superficially sculptured; at least partially shining, in some species completely shining ................................................................................................................ 12

11. Head and mesosoma densely sculptured and completely opaque; propodeal spines long and curved; first and second gastral tergites with a few pairs of long setae located at posterior margins of tergites ( Oman) .............. dhofara

– Head and mesosoma superficially sculptured and slightly shining; propodeal armature short and blunt; first and second gastral tergites completely bare (Balkan Peninsula, Central Asia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, UAE) karawaiewi

12. Body entirely black, with slight reticulate sculpture at most and shining ............... 13

– Mesosoma usually with small area of mesonotum red; head and mesosoma distinctly sculptured and not shining ................................................................................................................. 17

13. Propodeal spines short and straight, petiole dorsum narrow and rounded, with reduced armature; antennal scapes shorter, SI 150 – 155 ( Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Montenegro, Oman, UAE) ... nigra View in CoL

– Propodeal and petiolar armature both well developed with long curved spines; antennal scape long, SI 165 – 200 ............................................................................................... 14

14. Propodeum and first gastral tergite with some fine surface sculpture; first gastral tergite with characteristic violet reflection; S1 195 – 200 ( Egypt, Israel, KSA, UAE) ........ ................................................................................................................................................ opaciventris

– Whole body smooth; first gastral tergite without reflection of any type; SI 165 – 195 .......................................................................................................................................... 15

15. Propodeal short, less than 0.10 mm, moderately curved; antennal scape long, SI 175 – 195 ( Yemen, Eritrea, Israel, UAE).................................. .................................. gracilicornis View in CoL

– Propodeal spines long, more than 0.12 mm, and distinctly curved; antennal scape shorter, SI 165 – 170............................................................................................................................. 16

16. Body dark brown; propodeal spines shorter and slightly curved, in profile appearing at level of the petiolar spines; body slightly shining; scape shorter (SI 170), cephalic index smaller (CI 79), petiolar height lower in profile (0.41); appressed pubescence abundant on body ( Kazakhstan, Oman, KSA, Socotra) ...... .................................................................................................................................. spinisquama – Body black, propodeal spines longer and more strongly curved, in profile appearing much higher than level of petiolar spines; body more strongly shining; scape longer (SI 230 – 233), cephalic index greater (CI 86 – 88), petiolar height larger in profile (0.25 – 0.37); pubescence on body scattered ( Oman, UAE) ........... ........... omanensis sp. nov.

17. Pronotum with one pair of setae; petiole dorsum distinctly dentate (widespread in Palaearctic region)...................................................... ...................................................... frauenfeldi View in CoL

– Pronotum without setae; petiole dorsum feebly incavate or narrowly rounded without teeth ( Tunisia, UAE) ................................................ ................................................ nigrescens View in CoL

18. Head and gaster smooth and shining with only faint sculpture .................................. 19

– Head and gaster distinctly sculptured ....................................................................................... 21

19. Whole body dorsum covered with blunt black setae ( Namibia, Somalia, Yemen, Zimbabwe) ........................................................................................................................ validiuscula

– Mesosoma with pale, thin setae ................................................................................................. 20

20. Body pilosity short, restricted to a few pairs, sparse on propodeum and gastral tergites; pronotum without setae; whole body smooth and shining ( Bangladesh, India, Kenya, KSA, Lesotho, Somalia, Zimbabwe) ................................ simplex stat. nov.

– Body pilosity long and abundant, especially on gaster; pronotum with five pairs of hairs; whole body smooth except mesopleura transversely striate, general appearance moderately shining ( Guinea, Israel, Kenya, KSA, Somalia, Oman, Yemen............... ..................................................................................................................................................... canescens View in CoL

21. Whole mesosomal dorsum covered with long pale setae ( Eritrea, Israel, KSA, Oman, Yemen) .......................................................................................................................................... obtusa View in CoL

– Pilosity on mesosomal dorsum either restricted to pronotum or absent ................. 22

22. Petiolar angles produced into long spines ............................................................................. 23

– Petiole dorsum flat, emarginate or dentate at most ......................................................... 24

23. Larger species, TL 3.30; head superficially sculptured, slightly shining; in full-face view posterior margin of head strongly convex and with three pairs of long, stiff setae; mesosoma with several pairs of setae, smooth and shining, except for transverse striations on mesopleura ( Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Yemen) ...................................................................................................................................... incisa View in CoL

– Smaller species, TL 2.12; head strongly sculptured, completely opaque; in full-face view posterior margin of head straight, without setae; mesosoma without setae, entirely, and densely sculptured ( Djibouti, KSA, Oman, Somalia, Yemen) .................................... carbonaria View in CoL

24. Petiolar armature well developed; gaster finely and densely granulate, completely opaque ( Eritrea, Ethiopia, KSA, Yemen) .................................................................... erythraea View in CoL

– Petiolar dorsum shallowly emarginate; gaster superficially sculptured, slightly but distinctly shining ................................................................................................................................ 25

25. Mesosoma red; first gastral tergite with six pairs of long, pale setae located dorsally, posterior margin with several pairs; smaller species (TL 2.80), scape longer (SI 123) and head slightly narrower (HW 0.57) ( Yemen) ............................ ............................ harteni

– Mesosoma brown; pilosity of first gastral restricted to posterior margin; larger species (TL 3.20), scape shorter (SI 111), head wider (HW 0.63) ( KSA, Oman, Somalia) ........ depilis View in CoL

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Formicidae

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