Corresponding author: Mostafa R. Sharaf (
Academic editor: Donat Agosti
The myrmicine ant genus
The ant genus
The taxonomic knowledge also is limited.
There are anomalies, however, in the Fernández proposal which was based primarily on the American fauna. In particular, it does not gel with the contrasting dimorphism of the
The genus
Measurements in mm and indices are as follows (
Total Length; the outstretched length of the ant from the mandibular apex to the gastral apex.
Head Width; the maximum width of the head behind eyes in full face view.
Head Length; the maximum length of the head, excluding the mandibles.
Cephalic Index (HW x 100/HL).
Scape Length, excluding basal neck.
Scape Index (SL x 100/HW).
Eye Length; the maximum diameter of the eye.
Mesosoma Length; the length of the mesosoma (or alitrunk) in lateral view, from the point at which the pronotum meets the cervical shield to the posterior base of the propodeal lobes or teeth.
Pronotal width in dorsal view.
Petiole Length; the maximum length measured in dorsal view, from the anterior margin to the posterior margin.
Petiole Width; maximum width measured in dorsal view.
Postpetiole Length; maximum length measured in dorsal view.
Postpetiole Width; maximum width measured in dorsal view.
TL 0.99, HL 0.39, HW 0.31, SL 0.24, ML 0.31, PRW 0.19, PL 0.11, PW 0.08, PPL 0.05, PPW 0.09, SI 77, CI 79.
Overall unicolorous yellow, smooth and shining (
TL 0.99–1.13, HL 0.35–0.41, HW 0.29–0.32, SL 0.21–0.28, ML 0.31–0.34, PRW 0.17–0.19, PL 0.08–0.12, PW 0.07–0.08, PPL 0.05–0.07, PPW 0.08–09, SI 69–88, CI 74–89. (7 measured).
Saudi Arabia, Al Bahah, Al Mukhwah, Zei Ein Archaeological Village,
7 workers, same localoty as holotype; 1 deposited in the Muséum ďHistoire Naturelle, Geneva, Switzerland (Dr Bernhard Merz); 1 deposited in Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel, Switzerland (Mrs. Isabelle Zürcher-Pfander); 1 deposited in California Academy of Science (Dr Brian Fisher); 2 deposited in World Museum Liverpool, Liverpool, U.K (Dr Guy Knight), the remaining specimens in the King Saud Museum of Arthropods, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Given the anomalies of the
This new species is named after Abuhurayra, the companion of the Prophet, Mohammed, may peace and blessing be upon him, and whose tribe inhabited Al Bahah region.
The specimens of
The type locality is a mountainous area which is considered as a part of upper Tihama territory which belongs to Al Bahah region (
Type locality, Al Mukhwah, Zei Ein Archaeological village.
In pre-Fernández taxonomy
We wish to express our grateful thanks to Mr. Barry Bolton, Dr. Donat Agosti and Dr. Fernando Fernández for careful reading the manuscript and for useful comments. The authors would like to thank King Saud University (KSU) for supporting this work. We are indebted to Dr Boris C. Kondratieff for correcting the language and useful comments. Special thanks go to the following: Dr Brian Fisher for photographing the new species by automontage, Dr Magdi Elhawagry for assistance in the field, Dr Omer Hamed for taking SEM images, and Mr. Hassan Badri for technical help. The second author thanks his wife Amal El Saadany for her continuous help with mounting of ants and his friends, Mr. Cedric Collingwood; Dr Stephen Judd (Director,World Museum Liverpool), his wife Ms Shirley, their daughter Lucy and sons Sam and William, Mr Guy Knight (Entomology curator, World Museum Liverpool), Prof. Hoda Farid (Ain Shams University), Col.Hisham El Hennawy (Spider taxonomist), the famous Egyptian Journalist Mr. Salah Montaser (Al Ahram Newspaper) and Dr. Mahmoud El Dera for their continuous encouragement.