Notes on the ant genus Cataglyphis Foerster, 1850 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula with description of a new species and a key to species of the C. pallida-group

Mostafa R Sharaf; Cedric A Collingwood; Abdulrahman S Aldawood

doi:10.3897/zookeys.545.6308

Notes on the ant genus Cataglyphis Foerster, 1850 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula with description of a new species and a key to species of the C. pallida-group

Zookeys. 2015 Dec 14:(545):101-17. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.545.6308. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Mostafa R Sharaf¹, Cedric A Collingwood², Abdulrahman S Aldawood¹

Affiliations

¹ Economic Entomology Research Unit (EERU), Plant Protection Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, P. O. Box 2460, Saudi Arabia.
² 18 Milton Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 2ED, U. K.

Abstract

Cataglyphis fisheri sp. n. is described and illustrated from the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia based on the worker caste. It belongs to the Cataglyphis pallida-group which is recorded for the first time from the Arabian Peninsula. Cataglyphis fisheri sp. n. is similar to Cataglyphis pallida Mayr, 1877 from Kazakhstan. Differential diagnosis between these two species is given and a key to the species of the Cataglyphis pallida-group is presented. Cataglyphis laylae Collingwood, 2011 is treated as a junior synonym of Cataglyphis saharae Santschi, 1929. Cataglyphis flavobrunnea Collingwood & Agosti, 1996 is redescribed and a lectotype for this species is designated.

Keywords: Arabian Peninsula; Formicinae; Middle East; Palearctic region; Synonymy; key; lectotype; new designation; taxonomy.