Tetramorium sericeiventre Emery, 1877

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 : 79-82

Tetramorium sericeiventre Emery, 1877

Fig. 50

Tetramorium sericeiventre Emery, 1877: 370 (w) Eritrea. Afrotropic.

Diagnosis

Color red-brown to brown, or dark brown, gaster darker than body; frontal carinae shallowly developed; propodeal spines acute; metanotal groove indistinct; propodeal lobes long, of same length as propodeal spines; in profile petiolar nodes rectangular; cephalic surface, mesosoma, petiole, postpetiole, and gaster with sparse and stout standing hairs, propodeum bare.

Material examined

Syntype ERITREA • Bogos Sciotel; O. Beccari leg.; MHNG .

Additional material

OMAN – Dhofar • 1 w; Ayn Sahlanot ; 17.148° N, 54.179° E; alt. 151 m; 16 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 1 w; same collection data as for preceding; CASENT0922884; CASC • 9 w; Ayn Ashat ; 16.998° N, 53.820° E; alt. 202 m; 21 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 1 w; Ayn Dirbat ; 17.106° N, 54.453° E; alt. 207 m; 17 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

This species nests in soil under stones or in leaf litter ( Bolton 1980). It is abundant in areas where Vachellia and Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T.Aiton ( Apocynaceae Juss. ) plants occur (Sharaf et al. 2013). Workers are predators on other ants ( Lévieux 1972). This species is basically found wherever it is comparatively hot and there is sandy soil and no closed canopy ( Bolton 1980). This explains the broad geographic distribution in the vast areas of the Arabian deserts.

Geographic range

Originally described from Eritrea, it is known from the Afrotropical, the Malagasy, and the Southern Palaearctic Regions ( Hita Garcia & Fisher 2011). Sharaf et al. (2013) pointed out the remarkable wide geographic distribution of this species in the Arabian Peninsula, as previously mentioned by Collingwood (1985), Collingwood & Agosti (1996), and Collingwood et al. (2011). This species is recorded for the first time in Dhofar.

Figures

Fig. 50. Tetramorium sericeiventre Emery, 1877. worker (CASENT0922884, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito)). A. Body in profile. B. Head in full-face view. C. Distribution map.