Strumigenys membranifera Emery, 1869

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 : 74-77

Strumigenys membranifera Emery, 1869

Fig. 47

Strumigenys (Trichoscapa) membranifera Emery, 1869: 24 (w) Italy. Palearctic.

Diagnosis

Dull yellow to yellow-brown; mandibles with 12 teeth, arranged in a series of 7 larger teeth basally followed by 4 denticles and a small terminal tooth; eyes minute, with few ommatidia, situated ventrally on antennal scrobes; metanotal groove absent; in profile, spongiform appendages of petiole and postpetiole well-developed; cephalic pilosity restricted to one pair of setae; cephalic dorsum with appressed pubescence; mesosomal dorsum with scattered minute appressed pubescence; cephalic dorsum reticulate-punctate and dull; sides of mesosoma and propodeal dorsum and declivity smooth ( Fig. 47 ).

Material examined

Syntype ITALY • Portici ; 24 Sep. 1867; CASENT0102081; MSNG .

Additional material

OMAN – Dhofar • 1 w; Dhalkout ; 16.707° N, 53.251° E; alt. 34 m; 19 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

Strumigenys membranifera was collected from leaf litter in a shaded area in Dhalkout Forest where the soil was moist, and grasses and shrubs were abundant.

Geographic range

A pantropical species, originally described from Italy, this is a tramp species widespread outside the tropics ( Brown & Wilson 1959; Bolton 1983, 2000; Wetterer 2011). The first record from the Arabian Peninsula was from UAE ( Bolton 2000) and later this species was reported from KSA and Qatar ( Sharaf et al. 2014, 2015b). The genus and species are recorded for the first time from Oman.

Figures

Fig. 47. Strumigenys membranifera Emery, 1869, worker (CASENT0922883, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito)). A. Body in profile. B. Head in full-face view. C. Distribution map.