Solenopsis kochi Finzi Stat.

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Taylor, Brian & Klingenberg, Christiana, 2009, Ants of the Genus SOLENOPSIS Westwood, 1840 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Egypt with a description of the worker castes of S. cooperi Donisthorpe, 1947, Zootaxa 2004, pp. 49-58 : 55-57

Solenopsis kochi Finzi Stat. n.

(Plate 2, 3)

Solenopsis orbula ssp. kochi Finzi, 1936: 178 , fig. 8. Syntype worker, EGYPT: Soloum (Salloum), 23.iii.1933, 31.31º N; 25.09º E (C. Koch); Syntype males, Helouan (Helwan, Cairo), 27.iii.1933, 29.51º N; 31.20º E (W. Wittmer); Syntype gynes, Marsa Matrouh, 21.iii.1933 (unknown collector); Ikingi Mariout, 18.iii.1935, 31.01º N; 29.48º E; Cairo, 12.ii.1933 (MCZC) [examined].

Syntype worker (Plate 2, Fig. d, e). TL 2.0, HL 0.48, HW 0.41, SL 0.30, EL 0.02, AL 0.54, SI 73, CI 85.

Head not much longer than broad with slightly convex sides. Occipital margin straight with rounded corners. Head dorsum smooth and shining. Mandibles unsculptured, smooth and shining with long yellow hairs and brown teeth. Anterior clypeal margin with the median portion narrowly concave and with a lateral pair of short, broad basal teeth. Eyes minute, with a single facet set laterally well below midline of head and about 0.04 times the head width. Mesosoma with a distinct metanotal groove. Basal face of propodeum not forming an angle with the declivity. All parts of the head and body with abundant, scattered, long yellow hairs. Colour uniformly yellow. The badly mounted type specimen does not show clearly the characters of the petiole and the postpetiole.

Gyne (Plate 2, Fig. f, g). TL 5.7, HL 0.76, HW 0.70, SL 0.54, EL 0.25, AL 1.47, SI 77, CI 92.

Head slightly longer than broad with its dorsum smooth and shining with abundant scattered yellow hair pits. Anterior clypeal margin weakly concave. First funicular segment longer than the three following funicular segments together. Eyes large and oval with 17 facets in the longest row. Ocelli oval, the anterior one distinctly larger than the posterior ones. Occipital margin straight with rounded corners. Metanotal groove distinct. Head, mandibular teeth, mesosoma, petiole and postpetiole dark brown; gaster and mandibles light brown; antennae and legs yellow. Whole body smooth and shining with scattered yellow hairs.

Male (Plate 3, Fig. a, b, c). TL 4.36, HL 0.63, HW 0.68, SL 0.26, EL 0.26, AL 1.54, SI 38, CI 108.

PLATE 3. Solenopsis kochi male, (a) head in full-face view, (b) body in profile, (c) dorsal view.

Head broader than long with strongly curved sides; above the eyes smooth and shiny; areas in front of eyes, between frontal lobes and between posterior ocelli distinctly rugulose. Mandibles narrow, armed with three teeth. Antennae 13-segmented, scapes long, about 3.7 times longer than broad; first funiculus segment relatively long, 1.6 times longer than broad and thick at its distal end; the following segments are clearly longer than broad, increasing in length toward the end of the funiculus. Dorsum with scattered, long yellow hairs. Mesosoma smooth and shining with scattered long yellow hairs. Petiolar node in profile rounded. Gastral tergites with a few scattered yellow hairs that are abundant at the posterior margins.

Solenopsis kochi was described from workers, gynes and males collected by C. Koch, W. Wittmer and an unknown person from different localities including Salloum, Heluan, Ikingi Mariut, Marsa Matrouh and Cairo ( Finzi, 1936) This species seems not to have been collected since the original description, as there are no specimens in the Egyptian Entomological collections. As stated in the original description, the head is not much longer than broad with slightly convex sides ( Finzi, 1936). This is the most distinctive character for separating this species from S. orbula . After examining the type, MRS has been able to confirm Finzi's description. The lateral margin of the head in S. kochi clearly is convex while it is straight in S. orbula . Consequently, the head is broader in S. kochi (HW 0.41 versus HW 0.32 in S. orbula ). In addition, it was found that S. kochi is consistently larger than S. orbula (TL 2.0 versus TL 1.4). Moreover, the scape length in S. kochi is somewhat longer than in S. orbula (SL 0.3 versus SL 0.2). For completeness the measurements of the holotype worker of S. orbula are TL 1.4, HL 0.40, HW 0.32. SL 0.20, EL 0.02, AL 0.40, SI 50, CI 80.

It is hoped that the results given here will dispel at least a little of the taxonomic fog surrounding the Egyptian Solenopsis and perhaps clear the way for more detailed systematic work on this genus. Our expectation is that careful exploration would yield many additional and interesting members of the genus Solenopsis . Many parts of Egypt remain poorly collected and likely ant habitats are distributed over the huge deserts and mountainous areas of the country.