An update to the taxonomy and distribution of the Arabian Tapinoma Foerster, 1850 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with an illustrated key and remarks on habitats.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tapinoma Foerster belongs to the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae and the vast majority of its species are arboreal or generalised foragers. The genus is composed of 70 described species, 22 known subspecies and six valid fossil species worldwide, while from the Arabian Peninsula, three species have been recorded so far.

New information

Ants of the genus Tapinoma of the Arabian Peninsula are reviewed, keyed and illustrated, based on the worker caste. Three species are diagnosed, T. melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793), T. simrothi Krausse, 1911 and T. wilsoni Sharaf & Aldawood, 2012. We present the first illustrated key to the Arabian Tapinoma, enhanced by automontage images to facilitate species recognition. New distributional da

SUBMITTER: Abdel-Dayem MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8175323 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature