Monomorium areniphilum Santschi, 1911

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Wetterer, James K., Mohamed, AbdulAziz M. A., Georgiadis, Christos, Nasser, Mohamed G. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2024, Filling gaps in global myrmecology: ants of the Kingdom of Bahrain (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Journal of Natural History 58 (41 - 44), pp. 1705-1786 : 1746-1749

Monomorium areniphilum Santschi, 1911

( Figure 27 )

Monomorium salomonis var. areniphila Santschi, 1911, p. 84 (w.) Tunisia. Palaearctic.

Diagnosis

Worker. Larger species (TL 3 ·1–4 · 3 mm); colour distinctly variable among nest series but ranging from red to red-brown to medium brown, gaster always darker than head and mesosoma; eyes distinctly large with 12–14 ommatidia in longest row; mesosoma in profile with mesonotum sharply downcurved and descending to much impressed and deep metanotal groove; propodeum dorsum with narrow median longitudinal furrow; ventral head with a few projecting setae; mesosoma without setae; petiole node with one pair of setae; postpetiole with two or three pairs; cephalic surface with fine dense reticulate to reticulate-shagreenate sculpture.

Material examined

Six sites: B; 3; 6; 7; 11; 14.

Geographic range. This species was originally described from Tunisia and is recorded from several countries in the Afrotropical ( Bolton 1987) and Palaearctic regions (North Africa) ( Bolton 1987; Collingwood 1985; Collingwood and Agosti 1996). It has been collected from all countries of the Arabian Peninsula ( Sharaf et al. 2021).

Ecology and biology. This species occurs in desert habitats of the Arabian Peninsula ( Collingwood 1985; Collingwood and Agosti 1996) and North Africa ( Sharaf 2006). It feeds on plant material, including seeds ( Bolton 1987).

Figures

Figure 27. Monomorium areniphilum. Worker. (A) Body in profile. (B) Head in full-face view, ANTWEB1041893, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito). (C) Distribution map.