ASIAN
MYRMECOLOGY
Image: François Brassard
online first (online version of paper published before print issue)
Ecology and Distribution
DOI: 10.20362/am.010004
Asian Myrmecology 10: e010004 (1-38)
article first published online 16/February/2018
Additions to the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Oman: an updated list, new records and a description of two new species
MOSTAFA R. SHARAF1*, BRIAN L. FISHER2, HATHAL M. AL DHAFER1, ANDREW POLASZEK3 & ABDULRAHMAN S. ALDAWOOD1
Abstract:
An updated list of ant species (Formicidae) known from Oman is provided, including both published records and recently collected material, and bringing the total number to 123 species belonging to 24 genera and four subfamilies. In the present study thirty-four ant species were collected from Oman during expeditions in 2016 and 2017. Ten ant species are recorded for the first time in Oman : Cardiocondyla breviscapa Seifert, 2003, C. mauritanica Forel, 1890, C. yemeni Collingwood & Agosti, 1996, Erromyrma latinodis (Mayr, 1872), Hypoponera abeillei (André, 1881), Lepisiota opaciventris (Finzi, 1936), Monomorium dichroum Forel, 1902, Pheidole parva Mayr, 1865, Plagiolepis boltoni Sharaf, Aldawood & Taylor, 2011, and Tetramorium lanuginosum Mayr, 1870. The genus Aphaenogaster is recorded for the first time from Oman, and two new species of Aphaenogaster are described based on the worker caste: A. sarae sp. n. and A. asmaae sp. n. The first key to the Arabian Aphaenogaster is presented. The genus Erromyrma Bolton & Fisher, 2016 is recorded for the first time from Oman and the Arabian Peninsula by the sole species E. latinodis (Mayr, 1872). The queen caste of Pl. boltoni Sharaf, Aldawood & Taylor, 2011 is also described for the first time from Masfat Al-Ebreien, Oman. New distributional records are given with biological notes for species when available.
Keywords:
Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Asir Province, Palearctic region, invasive species, key, Erromyrma, Aphaenogaster
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1Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, P. O. Box 2460, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2Department of Entomology, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California 94118, USA
3Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
*Corresponding authors: mosharaf@ksu.edu.sa, antsharaf@gmail.com
