Monomorium niloticum Emery, 1881

Fig. 41

Monomorium niloticum Emery, 1881b: 533 (w) Egypt. Palearctic.

Diagnosis

Gaster dark contrasting with red head and mesosoma; first of three segments forming club being shorter than the second; head smooth with superficial sculpture; head in full-face view with eyes fail or just break head sides; metanotal groove steeply angled; mesosoma with several pairs of projecting setae. This species looks similar to M. venustum (Smith, 1858) that share color and body measurments but M. venustum can be separated by the lack of the mesosomal setae.

Material examined

OMAN – Dhofar • 19 w; Dhalkout; 16.727° N, 53.249° E; alt. 623 m; 18 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 1 w; same collection data as for preceding; CASENT0922859; CASC • 2 w; Dhalkout Road, Aghbaroot Village; 16.798° N, 53.554° E; alt. 1034 m; 18 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

Workers of M. niloticum were found nesting in a moderately moist clay soil, while several workers were found foraging on a small shrub. Additional workers were collected nesting under a stone in dry soil rich in feces of domestic animals.

Geographic range

This species was originally described from Egypt and is the most common species of Monomorium in the Arabian Peninsula, recorded from all countries (Collingwood 1985; Collingwood & Agosti 1996; Collingwood et al. 2011; Sharaf et al. 2018a) except Kuwait. It has been recorded from Israel (Vonshak & Ionescu-Hirsch 2009). This species was recorded in Dhofar by Collingwood (1985).