Technomyrmex vexatus (Santschi, 1919)

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Dhafer, Hathal M. Al & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2018, Review of the ant genus Technomyrmex Mayr, 1872 in the Arabian Peninsula (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), ZooKeys 780, pp. 35-59 : 35

Technomyrmex vexatus (Santschi, 1919) Figure 8A, B, C

Tapinoma vexatum Santschi 1919:220, Syntype male, Morocco: Tanger, 1897 (Vaucher), CASENT0911580, (NHMB), (examined), Palearctic.

Tapinoma (Tapinoptera) vexatum Santschi, 1925: 348. Combination in Technomyrmex by Cagniant and Espadaler 1993: 92.

Technomyrmex bruneipes : Collingwood and Agosti 1996; Fauna of Arabia 15: 361 [misidentification].

Description.

Worker. Measurements: TL: 3.1-3.4; HL: 0.72-0.78; HW: 0.68-0.76; SL: 0.64-0.70; PW: 0.44-0.48; WL: 0.90-0.96; Indices: CI: 94-99; SI: 90-94; OI: 22-25; EPI: 68-76; DTI: 118-130 (n=10, from Bolton 2007).

Head. Head with nearly straight posterior margin and convex sides; anterior clypeal margin feebly concave; eyes of moderate size with 10 ommatidia in the longest row (OI: 22-25), located just in front of the midlength of head, in full-face view outer margins of eyes just fail to protrude beyond sides of head. Mesosoma. Mesosonotum in profile with a flat anterior section that is slopping posteriorly and steeply to a well-developed narrow metanotal groove; propodeal dorsum short making a continuous curve with propodeal declivity. Pilosity. Head and mesosoma entirely lacking setae, first, second, and third gastral tergites without setae, fourth tergite with two or three pairs. Sculpture. Body finely and faintly microreticulate. Colour. Uniform dark brown, tarsi and funiculi paler yellow-bown.

Material examined.

Yemen, Sana’a, 15.3694°N, 44.1910°E, 2250 m, iii.1993, (Van Harten) (2 w, WMLC); Morocco, Septa, 29.v.1986, (X. Espadaler), det. B. Bolton, 2006, 1 w, CASENT0249804 (image examined).

Remarks.

Technomyrmex vexatus was originally described from Morocco. This species seems to exist as a series of isolated populations in rather restricted and specialized habitats throughout North Africa and eastward into the Arabian Peninsula, and perhaps Iran (B. Bolton, pers. comm.). Two species of the T. gibbosus -group are known from the Arabian Peninsula, the above record of T. vexatus from Yemen and T. montaseri from Oman. Technomyrmex vexatus was recorded for the first time from Palearctic (Gibraltar) by Guillem and Bensusan (2008).

Ecological and biological notes.

Nothing is known on ecology or biology of this species.

Geographic range

. Morocco ( Santschi 1919, Cagniant and Espadaler 1993), Gibraltar ( Guillem and Bensusan 2008). This species is newly recorded from Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula.