Lepisiota nigrescens (Karavaiev)
 Lepisiota nigrescens
(Acantholepis fraunenfeldi
Mayr var. nigrescens nova,
Karavaiev, 1912a:
15, illustrated, worker; Menozzi, 1927g: 380, queen; raised to species
by Collingwood, 1985: 295; name misspelt as nigricans by
Santschi,1917d: 43), type location Tunisia, Laverdure - see below.
Junior synonyms (here):
variabilis (Acantholepis frauenfeldi Mayr v. variabilis n. v.,
Santschi, 1917d: 43, worker) from Tunisia, Kairouan - see below.
aegyptiaca
(Acantholepis frauenfeldi var. aegyptiaca
Finzi 1938), new status, type location Egypt, Wadi Hoff, 5.iii.1933.)
no type images but drawing, TL 2.3 mm.
It appears to have been illustrated by Savigny (Audouin, J.-V. 1825-27:
Plate 20 Fig 11) - see
below.
|
 The photomontage of the
holotype worker is
collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0912400
Karavaiev (1912a) wrote:
close to the variety nigra
Em.
(CASENT0905148). Mainly dark but the mesonotum reddish; the petiole is
narrower than nigra and the
propodeal spines shorter. L.
nigrescens is
finely spiculate on the head and body, whereas nigra is near smooth and
shiny. |
 The photomontage of the
holotype variabilis worker is
collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0912387
Santschi's (1917d) note was "worker colour and sculpture of nigricans
differing by the polymorphism seen in the same nest, TL 2-3.2 mm,
Tunisia, Kairouan.
|
 Finzi's (1936)
description of aegyptiaca is
on  .
|
 Likely junior
synonym Lepisiota
frauenfeldi ssp opaciventris (Finzi, 1936: 187,
illustrated, worker).
Finzi's (1936)
description of opaciventris is on 
|
Oxford University Museum
specimens
Lepisiota nigrescens
B Taylor det.
|
Egypt
J Kugler
|
13.ii.1982
Sinai
28°33' N
33°56' E
|
Nakeb
|
2
|
 |
Lepisiota nigrescens
B Taylor det. |
Egypt
K M Osman
|
2014
Gemal Valley
|
Abo
Sembol; Sayadin Village Aswan 100 km south.
|
10
|
|
|
 The photomontage is
of specimens from Egypt, Sinai, Nakeb,
13.iii.1982, collector J Kugler; sent to BT by Armin Ionescu, Tel Aviv
University. The gaster is fully shiny, the specimen shown has a small
amount of glue on the first tergite.
|
 The small illustration shows the
Savigny worker, Fig. 11.
|
 The illustration right shows the Savigny specimen and
the dorsal view of one of the Sinai workers, on the same scale, for
comparison.
|
 From Egypt, a male
appears to have been illustrated by Savigny (Audouin, J.-V. 1825-27:
Plate 20 Fig 12).
|
 The photomontage is
of a worker from Egypt, K Osman, 47B.
|
 The photomontage is
of a worker from Egypt, K Osman, 59-01
|
|
