Lepisiota obtusa ( Emery, 1901 )

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Wetterer, James K., Mohamed, Amr A. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2022, Faunal composition, diversity, and distribution of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Dhofar Governorate, Oman, with updated list of the Omani species and remarks on zoogeography, European Journal of Taxonomy 838 (1), pp. 1-106 : 31

Lepisiota obtusa ( Emery, 1901)

Fig. 19

Acantholepis carbonaria var. obtusa Emery, 1901: 63 (w) Ethiopia. Afrotropic.

Diagnosis

Color dark brown or black; appendages paler; propodeal spines reduced or indistinct; petiole in profile with a slightly convex anterior face and a straight posterior face; whole mesosomal and gastral dorsum covered with abundant pale setae.

Material examined

OMAN – Dhofar • 8 w; Ayn Ashat ; 16.998° N, 53.820° E; alt. 202 m; 21 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 1 w; same collection data as for preceding; CASENT0922844; CASC .

Ecological and biological notes

This species was nesting under a rock next to a tree of Vachellia .

Geographic range

This species was originally described from Ethiopia and has been recorded from North Africa, KSA ( Collingwood 1985), Oman, and Yemen ( Collingwood & Agosti 1996). Lepisiota obtusa is reported here for the first time in Dhofar.

Figures

Fig. 19. Lepisiota obtusa (Emery, 1901), worker (CASENT0922844, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito)). A. Body in profile. B. Head in full-face view. C. Distribution map.