Monomorium subopacum (Smith, 1858)

Fig. 42

Myrmica subopaca Smith, 1858: 127 (w, q) Portugal (Madeira Is.). Afrotropic.

Diagnosis

Color brown, gaster darker than head and mesosoma; eyes with 9–11 ommatidia in longest row; head densely and finely reticulate to reticulate-shagreenate; metanotal groove feebly impressed; mesosoma without standing setae; postpetiole with a single pair of backward directed hairs; dorsal cephalic surface reticulate-granulate to shagreenate-punctulate and without setae; petiole and postpetiole each with a single pair of setae.

Material examined

OMAN – Dhofar • 1 w; Dhalkout Road, Aghbaroot Village; 16.798° N, 53.554° E; alt. 1034 m; 18 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 1 w; Ayn Ashat; 16.998° N, 53.820° E; alt. 202 m; 21 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 1 w; Ayn Razat; 17.124° N, 54.238° E; alt. 98 m; 20 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; CASENT0922877; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

This species was foraging on the ground under a tree of Vachellia .

Geographic range

Originally described from Portugal, widely distributed in North Africa from Egypt to Morocco; also occurring in northern and eastern regions of the Mediterranean Basin and the Afrotropical Region (Bolton 1987). In the Arabian Peninsula, it has been recorded from Oman, Yemen (Collingwood & Agosti 1996), KSA (Collingwood 1985), and UAE (Collingwood et al. 2011). Our collection represents a new record for Dhofar.