ARPHA Preprints, doi: 10.3897/arphapreprints.e66103
An update to the taxonomy and distribution of the Arabian TapinomaFoerster, 1850 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with an illustrated key and remarks on habitats
expand article infoMahmoud Abdel-Dayem‡§, Hathal Mohammed Al Dhafer|, Abdulrahman S Aldawood#, Mostafa R Sharaf#
‡ King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia§ Cairo University, Giza, Egypt| King Saud University, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia¶ Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Ritadh, Saudi Arabia# Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Corresponding author: Mahmoud Abdel-Dayem ( mseleem@ksu.edu.sa )

© Mahmoud Abdel-Dayem, Hathal Al Dhafer, Abdulrahman Aldawood, Mostafa Sharaf.
This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Abdel-Dayem M, Al Dhafer HM, Aldawood AS, Sharaf MR (2021) An update to the taxonomy and distribution of the Arabian TapinomaFoerster, 1850 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with an illustrated key and remarks on habitats. ARPHA Preprints. https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e66103
Open Access
Abstract

Tapinoma Foerster belongs to the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae and the vast majority of its species are arboreal or generalized foragers. The genus is composed of 71 described species and 24 known subspecies worldwide, while from Arabian Peninsula, three species have been recorded so far.

Ants of the genus Tapinoma of the Arabian Peninsula are reviewed, keyed and illustrated based on the worker caste. Three species are diagnosed, T. melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793), T. simrothi Krausse, 1911, and T. wilsoni Sharaf & Aldawood, 2012. We present the first illustrated key to the Arabian Tapinoma enhanced by automontage images to facilitate species recognition. New distributional data for species are presented based on recently collected material from the region and literature records. Information on habitats preference and biology of species are given.

Keywords
Afrotropical region, Dolichoderinae, endemic, Middle East,