Technomyrmex albipes (F. Smith, 1861)

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 albipes (F. Smith, 1861) Figure 3A, B, C

Formica (Tapinoma) albipes Smith, 1861: 38 (w.) Syntype worker, Indonesia: Sulawesi, Tond, (A.R. Wallace), CASENT0102952, Indomalaya, (OXUM), (image examined); Forel 1891: 98 (q.); Forel 1908: 21 (ergatoid m.); Karavaiev 1926: 441 (m.); Wheeler and Wheeler 1951: 205 (l.); Crozier 1969: 245 (k.). Combination in Tapinoma : Mayr, 1863: 455; in Technomyrmex : Emery 1888: 392. Senior synonym of Technomyrmex nigrum : Mayr 1872: 147; Mayr 1876: 83; of Technomyrmex albitarse : Emer 1893: 249; of Technomyrmex bruneipes , Technomyrmex detorquens , Technomyrmex forticulus , Technomyrmex wedda : Bolton 2007: 68.

Description.

Worker. Measurements: TL: 2.40-2.90; HL: 0.56-0.63; HW: 0.52-0.58; SL: 0.48-0.58; PW: 0.35-0.42; WL: 0.66-0.78. Indices: CI: 87-95; SI: 91-102; OI: 24-27; EPI: 70-88; DTI: 110-124 (n = 50, from Bolton 2007).

Head. Anterior clypeal margin with a feeble, shallow median indentation; head in full-face view with a small shallow indentation medially and strongly convex sides; eyes of moderate size with approximately nine ommatidia in longest row (OI: 24-27), located in front of midlength, with outer margins just fail to break outlines of head sides. Mesosoma. In profile the mesonotal outline evenly curved; propodeal dorsum making a distinct obtuse angle with declivity in profile. Pilosity. Frontal carina with two pairs of setae; pronotum with 1-3 pairs; mesonotum bare or with one pair (usually none); propodeal dorsum bare; lateral margins of propodeal declivity with one or two pairs, usually with one pair above spiracle, another pair higher up; gastral tergites 1-4 each with abundant scattered long setae (length of setae relatively less than eye diameter or even subequal) on sclerites. Sculpture. Body sculpture finely and densely reticulate-punctate, general appearance dull. Colour. Head, mesosoma, petiole and gaster black-brown to black; tarsi of mid- and hind legs yellow.

Material examined.

KSA, Eastern Province, Hofuf, 25.3142°N, 49.6299°E, 28.v.1978, (W. Büttiker leg.) (1 m) (WMLC).

Previous records.

KSA, Eastern Province, Al Qatif, 26.51028°N, 49.96889°E, 30 m, 14.iv.1984, (C. A. Collingwood leg.) (1 m); (Collingwood & van Harten 2001); Yemen: Al Kawd (misspelled AI Kowd), vii.1999, 13.088622°N, 45.364722°E, LT, (Van Harten & Al Haruri leg.); Lahj, iv.1999, 17.1661000°N, 43.3336600°E, MT, (Van Harten & Sallam leg.); Sana’a, 15.3694°N, 44.1910°E, 2250 m, 24.xi.1998, (Van Harten leg.); Ta’iz, V.1998, 13.57952°N, 44.02091°E, LT (Van Harten & Awad leg.) ( Collingwood 1985); Al Kadan, vi.2003, 15.248°N, 43.254°E, LT, (Van Harten & T. Abdul Haq leg.) (Collingwood & van Harten 2005).

Ecological and biological notes.

Technomyrmex albipes nests and forages in and beneath fallen wood and rocks, in tree trunks, in leaf litter, in twigs, on the forest floor, on low vegetation, and into the canopy ( Bolton 2007). The species is known to feed on honeydew of a broad range of sap sucking attended hemipterans including the mealybug vectors of pineapple wilt disease ( Sulaiman 1997).

Geographic range.

A successful introduced species that has spread worldwide including the Australian, the Afrotropical, and the Malagasy regions ( Bolton 2007).