Carebara arabica (Collingwood & van Harten, 2001)

Fig. 29

Oligomyrmex arabicus Collingwood & van Harten, 2001: 564 (s, w) Yemen. Afrotropic.

Diagnosis

Major worker

Uniform brown, antennae, and legs yellow; antennae 10-segmented with a 2-segmented club; posterior margin of head sharply concave and posterior corners with a pair of teeth, appearing blunt in profile; cephalic dorsum dull, with regular and dense and longitudinal rugulae; lateral margins of postpetiole in dorsal view rounded.

Minor worker

Uniform yellow; antennae 10-segmented; eyes tiny, with a single ommatidium; anterolateral sides of head finely longitudinally striated; lower halves of mesopleuron, metapleuron, petiole, and postpetiole areolate-rugose; propodeal dorsum nearly half as long as propodeal declivity in profile (Fig. 29).

Material examined

OMAN – Dhofar • 1 w; Ayn Hamran; 17.100° N, 54.284° E; alt. 106 m; 20 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 2 w; Ayn Sahlanot; 17.148° N, 54.179° E; alt. 151 m; 16 Nov. 2017; SF; M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA • 1 w; Ayn Razat; 17.130° N, 54.236° E; alt. 121 m; 20 Nov. 2017; SF: M.R. Sharaf leg.; KSMA .

Ecological and biological notes

Workers were collected foraging in dry soil under a tree of Prosopis . Several minor workers were observed foraging on the ground next to a tree of Ziziphus sp. where the soil was dry and rich in organic matter. In the Asir Mountains of KSA, C. arabica was found nesting in humid compact clay soil of banana plantations where minor workers were foraging above the soil surface.

Geographic range

Originally described from Yemen (Collingwood & van Harten 2001), it has been also recorded from KSA (Aldawood et al. 2011). The genus and species are new records for Oman.