Lepisiota spinisquama ( Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929 )

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 : 33

Lepisiota spinisquama ( Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929)

Fig. 21

Acantholepis frauenfeldi subsp. spinisquama Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929: 483 (w) Kazakhstan. Palearctic.

Diagnosis

Body dark brown; propodeal spines shorter and slightly curved, in profile appearing at level of the petiolar spines; body slightly shining; petiolar height lower in profile; appressed pubescence abundant on body.

Material examined

OMAN – Dhofar • 1 w; Ayn Sahlanot ; 17.148° N, 54.179° E; alt. 151 m; 16 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 3 w; Dhalkout ; 16.707° N, 53.251° E; alt. 34 m; 19 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 1 w; same collection data as for preceding; CASENT0922822; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

This species was found foraging on small shrubs and was collected using a beating sheet.

Geographic range

This species was originally described from Kazakhstan and recorded subsequently from Oman ( Collingwood & Agosti 1996) and the Socotra Archipelago ( Collingwood 1985; Collingwood et al. 2004; Sharaf et al. 2017c). Rad et al. (2018) recorded it from pitfall traps in Iran. Collingwood (1985) previously reported this species from Dhofar.

Figures

Fig. 21. Lepisiota spinisquama (Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929), worker (CASENT0922842, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito)). A. Body in profile. B. Head in full-face view. C. Distribution map.