Solenopsis cooperi Donisthorpe

Type location Egypt (Donisthorpe, 1947e: 110, male & queen).

Donisthorpe's (1947e) description is at .

Egypt records - 8 alate queens & 5 males; collected by J Omer-Cooper; at Siwa, 15 & 24.v.1935; also 175 males from Siwa, 21.viii.1935, reported earlier as unnamed by Donisthorpe (1942a: 30). Sharaf list - material examined: Mafareq (South Sinai), 5.iii.1998 (11) (SHC).

Mohamad thesis (1979) had - Burg El-Arab (Alexandria), 20.iii.1956 (Coll.Alf.) Burg El-Arab (Alexandria), 20.iii.1956 (Coll.Ain.)

Ecological note (M Sharaf) - this species was observed nesting under the base of a tree trunk under ground, in a sandy soil in Saloga protected island, Aswan; there were a nest of a termite Ametermes aswanensis close to the ant nest.

In addition to the photomontages of specimens from Saloga Islands (Aswan), 2.v.2002, 24.05º N, 32.56 º E, collected by Mostafa Sharaf, 2.v.2002 (below), source images can be seen in the folder at .

SHARAF, MOSTAFA R. (Egypt) , TAYLOR, BRIAN (UK) & KLINGENBERG, CHRISTIANA (Germany) Ants of the Genus SOLENOPSIS Westwood, 1840 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Egypt with a description of the worker castes of S. cooperi Donisthorpe, 1947 Zootaxa 2004: 49-58 (5 Feb. 2009). See a final proof at . This includes the synonymization of Solenopsis bakri Sharaf (2007); see .

Possibly the best candidate for the queen illustrated by Savigny (Audouin, J.-V. 1825-27: Plate 20 Fig 20).

The photomontage is of males.

These appear to match the rather short description of S. cooperi given by Donisthorpe (1942a); notably being brown, smooth & shining, with pale yellow appendages. the large ocelli also appear to be very distinctive compared to the other circum-Mediterranean species.

The photomontage is of a queen, photographed by Mostafa Sharaf. After colour correction, the appearance is a close match to the description of S. cooperi given by Donisthorpe (1942a); notably being brown, with a yellow gaster, smooth & shining, with pale yellow appendages. the large ocelli also appear to be very distinctive compared to the other circum-Mediterranean species.

The photomontage and the one below are of workers from Saloga Island, Aswan, collected by Mostafa Sharaf, 2.v.2002, in association with the male show above. These are readily distinguished from the known circum-Mediterranean species by the long pedicel to the petiole; the relatively high, narrowly rounded petiole profile; the longer head with a flat narrow profile; also the angular near dentate and longitudinally weakly furrowed propodeum.

Second worker