Tetramorium chefketi Forel, 1911

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S., Al Dhafer, Hathal M. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2013, The ants (Hymenoptera: formicidae) of Rawdhat Khorim Nature Preserve, Saudi Arabia, with description of a new species of the genus Tetramorium Mayr, Zootaxa 3709 (6), pp. 565-580 : 574

Tetramorium chefketi Forel, 1911

( Fig.6 c, d )

Tetramorium caespitum var. chefketi Forel, 1911:332 . Raised to species: Agosti & Collingwood, 1987: 56. Senior synonym of Tetramorium turcomanicum: Csõsz, Radchenko & Schulz, 2007: 18 .

This species was recorded from Saudi Arabia ( Collingwood, 1985), Oman and Yemen ( Collingwood and Agosti, 1996). Outside Arabia, it has been reported from several parts of the Palaearctic region including southern Europe ( Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania), southern Ukraine, south of western Russia, northwestern Caucasus, Turkey, Turkmenistan, northern Kazakhstan, southeastern Siberia, to the east to Kyrgyzstan and Altai Mountains ( Csõsz et al., 2007). At Rawdhat Khorim this species is relatively common and observed foraging on Ziziphus nummularia (Burm. f) Wight & Arn. ( Rhamnaceae ). The species has two abundance peaks, in June and November. It was collected using pitfall traps and beating vegetation.

Figures

FIGURE 6. a, b, Solenopsis saudiensis (CASENT0249866, Saudi Arabia); c, d, Tetramorium chefketi (CASENT0906711, Bulgaria); e, f, g, Tetramorium saudicum sp. n. (CASENT0281582, Saudi Arabia); h, i, Tetramorium sericeiventre (CASENT0102388, Madagascar).