Pheidole sculpturata Mayr, 1866

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 : 74

Pheidole sculpturata Mayr, 1866

Fig. 46

Pheidole sculpturata Mayr, 1866: 897 (s) South Africa. Afrotropic.

Diagnosis

Major worker

Head deeply emarginate in full-face view; cephalic surface densely reticulate-rugulose except for longitudinal rugae located between frontal carinae; metanotal groove deeply impressed; propodeal spines acute and upward directed; postpetiole seen from above about twice as broad as long, distinctly and acutely dentate at widest point; whole dorsum covered with dense fine pale pilosity.

Material examined

OMAN – Dhofar • 2 s, 4 mw; Dhalkout Road, Aghbaroot Village ; 16.798° N, 53.554° E; alt. 1034 m; 18 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

This species was found nesting under a rock in dry loose soil next to small shrubs.

Geographic range

Pheidole sculpturata was originally described from South Africa and is widely distributed in the Afrotropical Region ( Collingwood 1985). It has been recorded from KSA ( Collingwood 1985), Oman, Yemen ( Collingwood & Agosti 1996), and UAE ( Collingwood et al. 2011). This species is recorded for the first time in Dhofar.

Figures

Fig. 46. Pheidole sculpturata Mayr, 1866, major worker (CASENT0281616, AntWeb.org (Shannon Hartman)). A. Body in profile. B. Head in full-face view. C. Distribution map.