Crematogaster aegyptiaca Mayr

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Aldawood, Abdulrahman S. & Garcia, Francisco Hita, 2019, Review of the Arabian Crematogaster Lund (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), synoptic list, distribution, and description of two new species from Oman and Saudi Arabia, ZooKeys 898, pp. 27-81 : 27

Crematogaster aegyptiaca Mayr Figure 7 A–C

Taxonomic history.

Crematogaster aegyptiaca Mayr, 1862: 765 (w.) Egypt.

Combination in Crematogaster ( Crematogaster) : Wheeler 1922: 828; in Crematogaster (Acrocoelia) : Emery 1922: 144; in Crematogaster ( Crematogaster) : Bolton 1995: 166.

Current subspecies: C. aegyptiaca pharaonis Santschi, C. aegyptiaca robusta Emery, C. aegyptiaca turkanensis Santschi.

Material examined.

KSA: Asir Province, Abha, Al Habala, 18.034167N, 42.858167E, 2397 m, 25.iv.2011 (Sharaf MR) (19 w, KSMA); Riyadh, Al Hayer, 24.290833N, 46.9075E, 10.iii.2011 (Sharaf MR) (14 w, KSMA); UAE: Near Mahafiz, 25.09N, 55.48E, 24.iii-07.iv.2011 (M Hauser et al.), UAE13055 (1 w, CASENT0264387, 1 w, CASENT0264388, KSMA); Wadi Maidaq, 25.18N, 56.07E, 15-31.x.2010 (M Hauser et al.), UAE12848 (1 w, CASENT0265207, KSMA); Oman: dunes near Mintirib, 22.4248N, 58.8032E, 17.xi.1984 (M. Gallagher) (1 w, WMLC).

Geographic range.

This species was originally described from Egypt and can be found in most most countries of North Africa but also in Sudan and Kenya ( Guénard et al. 2017; Janicki et al. 2017). For the Arabian Peninsula, it was recorded from the KSA, Oman, the UAE, and Yemen ( Borowiec 2014; Collingwood 1985, Collingwood and Agosti 1996; Collingwood et al. 2011; Sharaf et al. 2018) ( Fig. 6 ).

Remarks.

As for C. acacia (and many other taxa), the taxonomic condition of this species is relatively unclear due to the absence of any revisions in the regions in question, and we cannot predict the taxonomic status of C. aegyptiaca and its subspecies after being revised. However, based on our experience with this species, it is readily identifiable and we are very confident of the Arabian material being genuine C. aegyptiaca .

Figures

Figure 6. Distribution map of C. acacia and C. aegyptiaca.

Figure 7. C. aegyptiaca A body in profile B body in dorsal view C head in full-face view, CASENT 0916082 (Anna Pal), www. AntWeb. org.