Abstract
The taxonomy of the dolichoderine ants of the genus Technomyrmex Mayr, 1872 is revised for the Arabian Peninsula. Six species are treated, T.albipes (F. Smith, 1861), T.difficilis Forel, 1892, T.briani Sharaf, 2009, T.vexatus (Santschi, 1919), T.montaseri Sharaf, Collingwood & Aldawood, 2011, and T.setosus Collingwood, 1985. The successful tramp species T.difficilis Forel, 1892 is recorded for the first time from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Yemen, representing new records for the Palearctic Region. Technomyrmexvexatus (Santschi, 1919) is a new species record for Yemen. The queen caste of the rare endemic species, T.briani Sharaf, 2009 is described for the first time. A neotype for KSA endemic T.setosusCollingwood 1985 is designated based on a specimen collected from the type locality, the Asir Mountains, KSA, including new information on habitats and distribution. A male cast of Technomyrmex, possibly of T.setosus, is also described. An illustrated key based on the worker caste of the Arabian species of Technomyrmex is given. New geographical records and a distribution map for the treated species are presented.
Highlights
The ant genus Technomyrmex Mayr, 1872 is a member of the subfamily Dolichoderinae, with 94 valid species and four fossil species worldwide (Bolton 2017)
Workers of the genus Technomyrmex are distinguished by the following characters (Bolton 2007): Masticatory margin of mandibles armed with 12–14 teeth; palp formula 6, 4; anterior clypeal margin transverse or strongly incised; eyes present; ocelli absent; antennae 12-segmented without a terminal club; metanotal groove well-developed; propodeum unarmed; propodeal dorsum and declivity junction rounded or distinctly angled in profile; petiole reduced, completely concealed by the first gastral tergite when seen from dorsal view; gaster with five tergites visible in dorsal view
In terms of species endemism, T. briani and T. setosus apparently are restricted to the Arabian Peninsula
Summary
The ant genus Technomyrmex Mayr, 1872 is a member of the subfamily Dolichoderinae, with 94 valid species and four fossil species worldwide (Bolton 2017). Technomyrmex species are distributed throughout Old World tropical and subtropical zones (Brown 2000), the Oriental-Malesian (Bolton 2007), and Neotropical (Fernández and Guerrero 2008) regions. Bolton (2007) provided a world revision of the genus in which 90 species were recognized including 37 new species described. A synopsis of the New World species was made available by Fernández and Guerrero (2008) including a key to six species. The Taiwanese species were revised, recognizing five species including a description of a new species (Yamane et al 2018)
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