Plagiolepis (Plagiolepis) pallescens Forel

Iran list Type location Greece (Plagiolepis pygmaea Latr. Varietät pallescens, Forel, 1889: 265, worker; Santschi, 1911i: 287, queen; Finzi, 1928c: 790, male [not in HNS list]; variety of pygmaeus, Ruzsky, 1902d: 18 [unavailable], Santschi, 1920g: 168; raised to species Emery, 1921d: 315, Finzi, 1928c: 790) - type damaged - see link below
subspecies elguerrhae (Plagiolepis (Plagiolepis) pallescens For. var. elguerrhae nova., Karavaiev, 1931a: 311, illustrated, worker & queen) from Algeria - no images on Antweb (April 2015)
isis (Plagiolepis pallescens Forel var. isis nov., Santschi, 1938a: 39, illustrated, worker & queen) from Egypt - see below

Forel (1889) denoted pallescens as a variety separable from the type pygmaea on the basis of being bright yellow to bright light yellow-brown on the posterior gaster. Santschi (1911i) noted this variety (of pygmaea) could be attached by its relatively elongated antennae to schmitzi. Emery (1921d) made a study of the pygmaea group of Mediterranean species; this is at - .

Santschi's (1920g) description is at . Karavaiev's (1931a) description of elguerrhae is at . Santschi's (1938a) description of isis is at .

Egypt Records - Santschi (1938a: 39) reported isis workers and queens from Ghezireh, 23.viii.1923, from nest in millet plant (Alfieri), possibly the same as atlantis reported by Finzi (1936); Donisthorpe (1942a) recorded sordida from Siwa, Zeitoun & Khamissa, 17 workers.

El-Ziady (1958) included information that - "Recent finding (unpublished data) showed that the root aphid Triphidaphis phaseoli Thoe [(Passerini)?] on bean roots depended on the ants Paratrechina jaegerskioeldi Mayr and Plagiolepis pallescens Forel for its transportation and dissemination from plant to plant and from one crop to another" [El-Ziady, S. 1958. Ants, the probable agents of the onset of infestation of cotton with aphids and coccids. Bull. Soc. Ent. Egypt, 62, xx.]

The photomontage of the type worker of isis is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0912422.
The distorted, flattened type worker can be seen at http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casentcasent0909854.

The photomontage of a worker from Egypt is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent09062533. One of the Donisthorpe (1942a) recorded specimens.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Plagiolepis (Plagiolepis) pallescens B Taylor det.	Egypt M Sharaf	5.v.2003 Zaranik 30°39' N 34°26' E	North Sinai	2
Plagiolepis (Plagiolepis) pallescens B Taylor det.	Egypt M Sharaf	4.v.2003 Zaranik 30°39' N 34°26' E	North Sinai	1

The photomontage is of workers from Egypt, Zaranik, N. Sinai; collector Mostafa Sharaf.