Tetramorium simillimum ( Smith, 1851 )

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Fisher, Brian L., Collingwood, Cedric A. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2017, Ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): zoogeography, distribution and description of a new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 51 (5 - 6), pp. 317-378 : 359

Tetramorium simillimum ( Smith, 1851)

( Figure 23 (a–c))

Myrmica simillima Smith, 1851: 118 (w.) Great Britain. Palaearctic.

Diagnosis

Worker. Frontal carinae long and strongly developed, running back unbroken to posterior margin of head and out curving posteriorly; antennal scrobes well-developed forming distinct concavity on each side between frontal carinae and eyes; propodeal spines, short, triangular, and acute; cephalic dorsum finely and densely irregularly longitudinally rugulose; scrobal surface densely reticulate-punctate; body pilosity short, stout and blunt. Colour yellow to yellowish brown, gaster dark brown.

Material examined

Yemen, Socotra Island, Qalansyia, w. Taisoh, 25 April 2014, 67 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.65880°N, 53.46988°E (2 w, KSMA); Yemen, Socotra Island, Lehanoh, 22 April 2014, 931 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.57583°N, 54.04836°E (5 w, KSMA, 1 w, CASC) .

Geographic range

This species is a successful invasive and is considered cosmopolitan. Tetramorium simillimum is of African origin ( Bolton 1977) with a broad distribution in the Oriental, Indo-Australian, Australian, Neotropical ( Kempf 1972), Nearctic ( Creighton 1950) and Polynesian ( Wilson and Taylor 1967) regions. From the Arabian Peninsula, it has been recorded from KSA and Yemen ( Collingwood and Agosti 1996).

Ecological and biological notes

Workers of this species were found foraging on the soil under thrown, dry, date palm fronds. Several workers were found foraging on the ground under grasses.

Figures

Figure 23. Tetramorium simillimum. (a) Body in profile. (b) Head in full-face view, CASENT0746627, AntWeb.org, (Zach Lieberman). (c) Distribution map, blue triangles from recent records, red circles from Collingwood et al. (2004).