Solenopsis dentata

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Solenopsis dentata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Solenopsidini
Genus: Solenopsis
Species: S. dentata
Binomial name
Solenopsis dentata
Collingwood & Kugler, J., 1994

Solenopsis dentata casent0281010 p 1 high.jpg

Solenopsis dentata casent0281010 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Nothing is known about the biology of Solenopsis dentata.

Identification

Collingwood and Kugler (1994) - S. dentata is easily distinguished from most other species of Solenopsis by the anteroventral toothlike projection of the postpetiole in lateral view. This projection is readily observable in all castes. A similar structure was recorded and figured by Emery (1909) for a female of Solenopsis from Tunisia doubtfully belonging to Solenopsis orbula var. terniensis. S. orbula, including var. terniensis, however, is characterized by a much longer head in the worker and female than in S. dentata.

Workers of an undescribed Solenopsis species, collected in Oman, also have the ridge and the tooth-like projections on the postpetiole but they possess a more abundant and longer pilosity than the Mediterranean S. dentata.

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 32.983333° to 30.983333°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Israel (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Solenopsis dentata casent0281034 h 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281034 p 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281034 d 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281034 l 1 high.jpg
Paratype of Solenopsis dentataWorker. Specimen code casent0281034. Photographer Shannon Hartman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Solenopsis dentata casent0906349 h 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0906349 p 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0906349 d 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0906349 l 1 high.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0906349. Photographer Estella Ortega, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by KSMA; KSU, King Saud University Museum of Arthropods.

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Solenopsis dentata casent0281015 h 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281015 p 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281015 d 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281015 d 2 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281015 l 1 high.jpg
Paratype of Solenopsis dentataQueen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0281015. Photographer Shannon Hartman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Solenopsis dentata casent0906348 h 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0906348 p 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0906348 p 2 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0906348 d 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0906348 l 1 high.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0906348. Photographer Estella Ortega, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by KSMA; KSU, King Saud University Museum of Arthropods.

Male

Images from AntWeb

Solenopsis dentata casent0281014 h 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281014 p 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281014 d 1 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281014 d 2 high.jpgSolenopsis dentata casent0281014 l 1 high.jpg
Paratype of Solenopsis dentataMale (alate). Specimen code casent0281014. Photographer Shannon Hartman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • dentata. Solenopsis dentata Collingwood & Kugler, J. 1994: 120, figs. 1-9 (w.q.m.) ISRAEL.
    • Type-material: holotype worker, 28 paratype workers, 3 paratype queens, 2 paratype males.
    • Type-locality: holotype Israel: Yavne (Southern Coastal Plain), 5.vi.1982 (Q. Argaman); paratypes: 7 workers, 1 male with same data, 3 workers, 2 queens Israel: Jerusalem, 27.vii.1982 (Q. Argaman), 1 queen, 1 male Tel Aviv, 20.vi.1978 (J. Kugler), 8 workers Qiryat Anavim, 8.iv.1940 (H. Bytinski-Salz), 3 workers Yeroham, 23.iii.1960 (J. Kugler), 4 workers Meron (Upper Galilee), 21.iv.1984 (C.A. Collingwood), 3 workers Zekharya, 17.iv.1984 (C.A. Collingwood).
    • Type-depositories: TAUI (holotype); TAUI, WMLC (paratypes).
    • Status as species: Vonshak, et al. 2009: 44; Borowiec, L. 2014: 153.
    • Distribution: Israel.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Figs 1-9., Solenopsis dentata 1. worker, in profile; 2. worker, head; 3. queen, head; 4. male, head; 5. worker, petiole and postpetiole (lateral view); 6. worker, petiole and postpetiole (dorsal view); 7 worker, ridge of postpetiole with toothlike projections; 8. queen, petiole and postpetiole (lateral view); 9. male, petiole and postpetiole (lateral view).

Worker

TL 1.72-2.33, HL 0.48-0.65, HW 0.40-0.58, CI 82.2-89.2, SL 0.33-0.46, SI 80.7-89.2 (10 measured).

Color yellow. Head (Fig. 2) with widely scattered punctures and a few scratch marks on the lower genae, the rest of the head and the body shining without distinct sculpture. All parts of the body with scattered fine long hairs. Head not much longer than broad, with lateral margin slightly curved; occiput with rounded comers. Eye small, with 7 ommatidia set laterally well below midline of head. Anterior clypeal margin with central pair of stout projecting teeth, 0.07 mm long, and a lateral pair of short, broad basal blunt teeth. Alitrunk (Fig. 1) with small but acute mesopropodeal furrow. Petiole in lateral view (Fig. 5) with high, rounded node, anterior peduncle with distinct small ventral tooth; in dorsal view (Fig. 6) petiolar node twice as wide as long. Postpetiole lower, more or less cubical, in lateral view with distinct anteroventral toothlike process which bears few long hairs (Fig. 5). This process is one of two projections of transverse ridge (Fig. 7).

Queen

TL 3.57-3.92, HL 0.72-0.76, HW 0.67-0.72, CI 93-94.7, SL 0.45-0.50, SI 67.16-69.4 (4 measured).

Body brilliant brownish black, with occasional punctures; antenna, mandible and legs yellow.

Head (Fig. 3) slightly longer than broad; eye oval with 18 ommatidia in the longest row; ocelli circular, anterior slightly larger than posterior ones, clypeal tooth and petiole as in worker; postpetiole as in worker with toothlike processes bearing hairs (Fig. 8).

Male

TL 2.9-3.1, HL 0.46--0.48, HW 0.46--0.48, CI 100, SL 0.12--0.14, SI 26-29.1 (5 measured).

Body brilliant black brown, scapus and coxa dark brown, rest of leg, funiculus and mandible brownish yellow; hairs and wing veins yellow, pterostigma brown.

Head (Fig. 4) as long as wide; above the eyes smooth and shiny; margin of vertex between posterior ocelli straight, a little concave; lateral margin of head between upper margins of eye and posterior ocellus curved, longer than the large diameter of eye; anterior ocellus a little wider than high; posterior ocelli directed laterally, their upper margin protruding above head margin. In the 12 segmented antenna, scapus short, twice as long as wide. First funicular segment globular, a little wider than long, the following segments longer than wide, increasing in length, last segment 5 times as long as wide; mandible narrow with 2 or 3 teeth. Mesonotum smooth and shiny without remarkable sculpture, anteriorly with 2 fine furrows.

Petiole and postpetiole (Fig. 9) shiny, only partly reticulate, with scattered long hairs; in side view petiolar node angular, postpetiole ventrally with 2 toothlike projections, each bearing hairs.

Type Material

Holotype queen, Israel: Yavne [Southern Coastal Plain] 5.vi.1982 (Q. Argaman). Paratypes. Israel: Yavne, 5.iv.1982 (Q. Argaman) 1 male + 7 workers. Jerusalem (Judean Hills), 27.vii.1982 (Q. Argaman) 2 queens + 3 workers. Tel Aviv (Southern Coastal Plain), 20.vi.l978 (J. Kugler) 1 male + 1 queen. Qiryat Anavim (Judean Hills), 8.iv.1940 (H. Bytinski-Salz) 8 workers. Yeroham (Northern Negev), 23.iii.1960 (J. Kugler) 3 workers. Meron (Upper Galilee), 21.iv.1984 (under stone) (C.A. Collingwood) 4 workers. Zekharya (Foothills of Judea), 17.iv.l984 (C.A. Collingwood) 3 workers.

The holotype and most paratypes are deposited in the Zoological Museum of Tel Aviv University; some paratypes are preserved in the collection of C.A. Collingwood.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
  • Kugler, J. "A new species of Cataglyphis Förster (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Israel and Sinai." Israel Journal of Entomology 15 (1981): 83-88.
  • Vonshak M., and A. Ionescu-Hirsch. 2009. A checklist of the ants of Israel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Israel Journal of Entomology 39: 33-55.