Anochetus sedilloti Emery, 1884

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 : 84

Anochetus sedilloti Emery, 1884

Fig. 52

Anochetus sedilloti Emery, 1884: 377 (w) Tunisia. Palearctic.

Diagnosis

Head, mandibles, antennae, and legs orange, mesosoma and petiole red, gaster dark brown; mandibles long and straight, inserted in middle of front margin of head; posterior margin of head deeply emarginate; eyes rounded, relatively large with about 25 ommatidia in longest row; scapes when laid back from their insertions reach median part of posterior margin of head; metanotal groove feeble; propodeal dorsum about 1.53 of declivity length, both making an obtuse angle in profile.

Material examined

OMAN – Dhofar • 2 w; Ayn Ashat ; 16.998° N, 53.820° E; alt. 202 m; 21 Nov. 2017; HP; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

Two workers were collected foraging on the ground immediately after sunset. In the Asir Mountains, a single worker was observed by Collingwood (1985) foraging on ground in the early morning. Nothing is specifically known regarding the ecology of this species

Geographic range

Anochetus sedilloti was originally described from Tunisia and has been recorded from KSA, India, and North Africa ( Collingwood 1985). It is widespread in the Sahel area of Africa ( Taylor et al. 2016; Diame et al. 2017). The genus is first recorded from Oman by the new species Anochetus annetteae Sharaf, 2017 . Our collections represent a new species record for Oman.

Figures

Fig. 52. Anochetus sedilloti Emery, 1884, worker (CASENT0922865, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito)). A. Body in profile. B. Head in full-face view. C. Distribution map.