New synonyms of two Arabian ants of the genus Monomorium Mayr, 1855 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Mostafa R Sharaf; Cedric A Collingwood; Hathal M Al Dhafer; Mohammed S Al Mutairi; Abdulrahman S Aldawood

doi:10.3897/zookeys.505.9441

New synonyms of two Arabian ants of the genus Monomorium Mayr, 1855 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Zookeys. 2015 May 21:(505):51-8. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.505.9441. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Mostafa R Sharaf¹, Cedric A Collingwood², Hathal M Al Dhafer¹, Mohammed S Al Mutairi³, Abdulrahman S Aldawood¹

Affiliations

¹ Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, P. O. Box 2460, Saudi Arabia.
² 18 Milton Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 2ED, U. K.
³ Saudi Wildlife Authority, Riyadh 11575, P.O. Box 61681, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Synonymy of two Arabian Monomorium Mayr, 1855 species is proposed: Monomoriumexiguum Forel, 1894 = Monomoriumdesertorum Collingwood & Agosti, 1996, syn. n.; Monomoriumsubopacum Smith, 1858 = Monomoriummintiribe Collingwood & Agosti, 1996, syn. n. A lectotype for Monomoriumvenustum Smith, 1858 is designated. Information on nesting habits of Monomoriumexiguum and Monomoriumvenustum in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are provided for the first time. Recently collected records for Monomoriumexiguum, Monomoriumsubopacum, and Monomoriumvenustum from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are listed.

Keywords: Arabian Peninsula; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; new designation; synonymy; taxonomy.