Ants of the genus Solenopsis Westwood 1840 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula with description of a new species, Solenopsis elhawagryi

Mostafa R Sharaf; Abdulrahman S Aldawood

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049485

Ants of the genus Solenopsis Westwood 1840 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula with description of a new species, Solenopsis elhawagryi

PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e49485. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049485. Epub 2012 Nov 30.

Authors

Mostafa R Sharaf¹, Abdulrahman S Aldawood

Affiliation

¹ Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Ants of the genus Solenopsis Westwood in the Arabian Peninsula are revised. Six species are treated: Solenopsis elhawagryi Sharaf & Aldawood sp. n., S. geminata (Fabricius, 1804), S. omana Collingwood & Agosti, 1996, S. saudiensis Sharaf & Aldawood, 2011, S. sumara Collingwood & Agosti, 1996, and S. zingibara Collingwood & Agosti, 1996. Solenopsis elhawagryi is described from Beljorashi Governorate, Al Baha Province, Saudi Arabia, based on worker castes and the queen with notes on this species biology and ecology. Solenopsis sumara workers are redescribed and illustrated for the first time and a lectotype is designated. An identification key to the Arabian and Egyptian species is provided with scanning electron micrographs to facilitate species recognition.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Ants / classification
Ants / ultrastructure*
Female
Founder Effect*
Male
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Phylogeny*
Phylogeography
Saudi Arabia

Grants and funding

Funding for the research was provided by NPST program (King Saud University) Project No. 11-BIO1974-02. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.