Monomorium floricola ( Jerdon, 1851 )

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Wetterer, James K., Mohamed, Amr A. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2022, Faunal composition, diversity, and distribution of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Dhofar Governorate, Oman, with updated list of the Omani species and remarks on zoogeography, European Journal of Taxonomy 838 (1), pp. 1-106 : 64-66

Monomorium floricola ( Jerdon, 1851)

Fig. 40

Atta floricola Jerdon, 1851: 107 (w) India. Indomalaya.

Diagnosis

An easily recognizable species by color with head and gaster uniformly dark brown or black, mesosoma, petiole, and postpetiole clear yellow; the petiolar node low and broadly conical, little higher than postpetiole in profile; body surface unsculptured and glossy.

Material examined

OMAN – Dhofar • 1 w; Ayn Dirbat ; 17.106° N, 54.453° E; alt. 207 m; 17 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

Workers were collected foraging in leaf litter under a tree of Ziziphus sp. Although the gynes of M. floricola are wingless apparently affecting colony dispersal, the species has successfully spread into the tropics and subtropics ( Wetterer 2010b). This species can nest in tiny cavities in temperate regions where buildings, especially greenhouses, are heated. A ‘budding phenomenon’ is known for colonies of this species where large colonies divide into smaller colonies ( Snelling 2005; Wetterer 2010b). In addition, colonies are polygynous and polydomous. These biological and ecological characteristics have apparently allowed M. floricola to successfully colonize new habitats world-wide.

Geographic range

It was originally described from India, but now is a successful pantropical tramp species known from the Afrotropical ( Bolton 1987), the Malagasy ( Heterick 2006), the Nearctic ( Krombein et al. 1979), the Neotropical ( Kempf 1972), and the Polynesian ( Wilson & Taylor 1967) Regions. This species is a new record for Oman and the Arabian Peninsula.

Figures

Fig. 40. Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851), worker (CASENT0922876, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito)). A. Body in profile. B. Head in full-face view. C. Distribution map.