Contents Contents The Ants of Egypt
SUBFAMILY DOLICHODERINAE - Genus Tapinoma - Tapinoma simrothi Krausse

Tapinoma simrothi Krausse

return to list Type location Sardinia (Tapinoma erraticum var. Simrothi, Krausse, 1911: 18, worker only; Emery, 1925d: 49, queen and male, also raised to species) Abbasanta, 1906
subspecies phoeniceum  (Tapinoma simrothi var. phoenicia n., Emery, 1925d: 50, illustrated, all forms) from Cyprus - see below

See Shattuck (1994: 154 [unavailable]).

festae (Tapinoma simrothi festae n., Emery, 1925d: 51, illustrated, queen & male) from Greece - raised to species Lush (2009) - male see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=antweb1008470
Lush, M. J. 2009. Some ant records (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Middle East. Zoology in the Middle East, 47, 114-116.


Krausse's (1911) brief description is at {original description}.

Diagnosis follows Collingwood (1985: 242). As a typical Dolichoderine, has gaster in dorsal view with four visible tergites, the anal and associated orifices are ventral. propodeum unarmed or rarely with a pair of blunt tubercles; eyes at or in front of the midlength of the head on the dorsal surface.
This species has the anterior clypeal border with a distinct notch, Collingwood (1985) describes it as a slit-like cleft; whole body including legs dark brown. TL > 2.5 mm.

Collingwood (1985) noted it as abundant in the Middle East and locally common also in North Africa and parts of South Europe, active daytime scavenger and also tends Homoptera on shrubs.

Egypt records - as Tapinoma erraticum Latr. var erratico-nigerrimum Forel, workers and male from Cairo by Karavaiev (1911: 9; my deduction; latter name is a nomen nudum in Bolton, 1995: 400, type location Algeria, erraticum otherwise seem to be from France and the western Mediterranean); Alfieri (1931) listed findings from the 1925 survey - Behera Province, 3 locations, Dakahlieh Province, El Hachawa, Fayoum province, Tamia; Finzi (1936: 183); only Dolichoderine listed by Mohamed et al. (2001) from Sinai, also in Lower Nile and Delta areas of Egypt.


{Tapinoma simrothi} From Egypt, it was illustrated by Savigny (Audouin, J.-V. 1825-27: Plate 20 Fig 10).


{Tapinoma simrothi}Comparison of the full face view of (left) the phoenicium type, the Savignyi drawing, and the Mike James worker (right).


{Tapinoma simrothi phoenicium}The photomontage of the type worker of phoenicium is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0904017


Oxford University Museum specimens

Tapinoma simrothi
B Taylor det.
Egypt
M James
2001

ii.2001
Sinai
28°33' N
33°56' E
St Katherine protectorate around the town of St Katherine,
 in mountains above 1500m; ground dwelling & foraging

1
{album}

{Tapinoma simrothi}The photomontage is of workers collected in the Sinai Desert, Egypt, St Katherine protectorate around the town of St Katherine, in mountains above 1500m, in early 2001, by Mike James, a research student of Francis Gilbert. Mike James commented that it is a solitary forager active even at the hottest time of day, when it moves very fast over the gravel with its abdomen cocked.

Type form - Elqasmia (Belbis), 21.II.2003 (4); Wadi El-Arish, 14.III.2002 (1) (SHC); Ebn Salam (Daqahliya, Egypt), 13.IV.1999 (3) Leg.M.R.Sharaf (ASUC), phoenicium - El-Marg, El-Ameryia (Sharaf list).


{Tapinoma simrothi}Photomontage of a worker from Iran, Halab; collector S Moradloo (18)

©2005, 2006, 2009, 2015 - Brian Taylor CBiol FRSB FRES
11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K.

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