Trichomyrmex mayri Sharaf et al. 2016
Creators: name: Sharaf, Mostafa R.
name: Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S.
name: Mohamed, Amr A.
name: Fisher, Brian L.
name: Aldawood, Abdulrahman S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Formicidae
Trichomyrmex
Trichomyrmex mayri

description: <i>Trichomyrmex mayri</i> (Forel, 1902) (Fig. 25 A–C) <i>Monomorium</i> (<i>Parholcomyrmex</i>) <i>gracillimum</i> var. <i>mayri</i> Forel, 1902: 209 (w.) India. Indomalaya. <b> <i>Diagnosis</i>. Worker.</b> <i>Trichomyrmex mayri</i> is closest to <i>T. destructor</i>, from which it can be separated by its uniform dark brown or black-brown color, whereas <i>T. destructor</i> has a yellow to brown-yellow head, mesosoma, petiole, and postpetiole, while its gaster is dark brown. <b> <i>Material examined</i>.</b> Doha, Fereej Ben Mahmoud, 14.iii.2005, 25°17’N, 51°30’E, (M.S. Abdel-Dayem leg.), 1w; Doha, 25°17.124’N, 51°31.86’E, 17.iii. 2005, (M.S. Abdel-Dayem leg.), 1w, (KSMA). <i> <i>Geographic distribution.</i> Trichomyrmex mayri</i> was described from India and is widely distributed in the sub-Saharan Africa (Bolton 1987); Levant (Sharaf 2006, Vonshak and Ionescu 2009); the Arabian Peninsula (Collingwood 1985, Collingwood and Agosti 1996, Sharaf <i>et al</i>. 2013, 2016 b), the Socotra Archipelago (Sharaf <i>et al</i>. 2017), and it was recorded from Qatar by Sharaf <i>et al</i>. (2016 b). <b> <i>Ecological and biological notes</i>.</b> In the Arabian Peninsula, <i>T. mayri</i> invades a wide range of habitats and constitutes the most common species of the genus (Sharaf <i>et al</i>. 2013, 2016). Nests are built in moist soil under stones next to date palm <i>Phoenix dactylifera</i> L. (Arecaceae) plantations, or close to <i>Acacia</i> trees in sites impacted by trash and human waste, whereas some exist next to the milkweed tree, <i>Calotropis procera</i> (Aiton) W.T. Aiton (Asclepiadaceae).
description: Published as part of <i>Sharaf, Mostafa R., Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S., Mohamed, Amr A., Fisher, Brian L. &amp; Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2020, A Preliminary Synopsis of the Ant Fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Qatar with Remarks on the Zoogeography, pp. 533-560 in Annales Zoologici 70 (4)</i> on pages 552-553, DOI: 10.3161/00034541anz2020.70.4.005, http://zenodo.org/record/4433537
description: {"references": ["Forel, A. 1902. Myrmicinae nouveaux de l'Inde et de Ceylan. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 10: 165 - 249.", "Bolton, B. 1987. A review of the Solenopsis genus group and revision of Afrotropical Monomorium. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology, 54: 263 - 452.", "Sharaf, M. R. 2006. Taxonomic and ecological studies on family Formicidae (Order: Hymenoptera) in Egypt including some protectorates with a study of some insect fauna associated with ant species [unpublished thesis]. Cairo: Ain Shams University, Faculty of Science, Entomology Department, 340 pp.", "Collingwood, C. A. 1985. Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia, 7: 230 - 302.", "Collingwood, C. A. and Agosti, D. 1996. Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2). Fauna of Arabia, 15: 300 - 385.", "Sharaf, M. R., Abdeldayem, M. S., Aldhafer, H. &amp; A. S. Aldawood. 2013. The ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Rawdhat Khorim nature preserve, Saudi Arabia, with description of a new species of the genus Tetramorium Mayr. Zootaxa, 3709 (6): 565 - 580.", "Sharaf, M. R., Salman, S., Al Dhafer, H. M., Akbar, S. A., Abdel- Dayem, M. S. and A. S. Aldawood. 2016 b. Taxonomy and distribution of the genus Trichomyrmex Mayr, 1865 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula, with the description of two new species. European Journal of Taxonomy, 246: 1 - 36.", "Sharaf, M. R., Fisher, B. L., Collingwood, C. A. and S. A. Aldawood. 2017. Ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): zoogeography, distribution and description of a new species. Journal of Natural History, 51: 317 - 378.", "Sharaf, M. R., Monks, J., Polaszek, A. and S. A. Aldawood. 2016 a. A remarkable new species of the genus Lepisiota Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Oman and the United Arab Emirates with a key to the Arabian species. Journal of Natural History, 50: 1875 - 1887."]}