Order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae
Cedric A. Collingwood
Donat Agosti
Mostafa R. Sharaf
Antonius van Harten
Arthropod fauna of the UAE
2011
2011-05-31
4
1
70
54T6X
Fabricius, 1793
Fabricius
1793
[306,805,1532,1557]
Insecta
Formicidae
Tapinoma
GBIF
Animalia
Hymenoptera
10
11
Arthropoda
species
melanocephalum
Specimens examined: Al-Ain, 12.iii.2005, CAC. Al-Ajban, 9.xi–7.12.2005, LT & MT, AvH. Sharjah Desert Park, 5–6.x.2004, AvH.
Distribution: Another invasive species with a world-wide distribution ( Wetterer, 2009a). This species feeds upon many household foods, it seems to show a preference for sweets, having been observed feeding on sugar, cakes, and syrups ( Smith, 1965). Outdoors the workers are scavengers, consume dead insects and tend sap-sucking insects, collecting honeydew. Recorded from the UAE (al-Ain) by Collingwood, Tigar & Agosti (1997). Also known from Yemen.