Monomorium dichroum Forel, 1902a

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Fisher, Brian L., Collingwood, Cedric A. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2017, Ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): zoogeography, distribution and description of a new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 51 (5 - 6), pp. 317-378 : 339

Monomorium dichroum Forel, 1902a

( Figure 12 (a–c))

Monomorium dichroum Forel, 1902a: 212 (w. q.) India. Indomalaya. Imai, Baroni Urbani, et al.

Diagnosis

Worker caste of this species can be confused with the cosmopolitan species Monomorium pharaonis (L., 1758) but it can be separated by the finely longitudinally striated head, the smooth first gastral tergite, and the dark patches in front of the eyes.

Material examined

Yemen, Socotra Island, Himihil Protectorate , 23 April 2014, 330 m, (M.R. Sharaf leg.), 12.58204°N, 54.29057°E (1 w, KSMA, 1 w, CASC) .

Geographic range

This species was described from India ( Forel 1902a) and is recorded here for the first time from the Socotra Archipelago.

Ecological and biological notes

This species was collected from a banana farm where the soil was moist and rich in decaying livestock faeces. Several pselaphine beetles were also observed in the same habitat.

Figures

Figure 12. Monomorium dichroum. (a) Body in profile. (b) Head in full-face view, CASENT0746622, AntWeb.org, (Zach Lieberman). (c) Distribution map from recent records.