Tapinoma simrothi Krausse

Iran listEgypt list

Type location Sardinia (Tapinoma erraticum var. Simrothi, Krausse, 1911: 18, worker only; Emery, 1925d: 49, queen and male, also raised to species) Abbasanta, 1906 - no images on Antweb (September 2016)
subspecies phoeniceum  (Tapinoma simrothi var. phoenicia n., Emery, 1925d: 50, illustrated, all forms) from Cyprus - see below

See Shattuck (1994: 154 [unavailable]).

festae (Tapinoma simrothi festae n., Emery, 1925d: 51, illustrated, queen & male) from Greece - raised to species Lush (2009) - male see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=antweb1008470
Lush, M. J. 2009. Some ant records (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Middle East. Zoology in the Middle East, 47, 114-116.

Krausse's (1911) brief description is at . Emery's (1925d) full description, with phoeniciae is at .

Diagnosis follows Collingwood (1985: 242). As a typical Dolichoderine, has gaster in dorsal view with four visible tergites, the anal and associated orifices are ventral. propodeum unarmed or rarely with a pair of blunt tubercles; eyes at or in front of the midlength of the head on the dorsal surface.
This species has the anterior clypeal border with a distinct notch, Collingwood (1985) describes it as a slit-like cleft; whole body including legs dark brown. TL > 2.5 mm.

Collingwood (1985) noted it as abundant in the Middle East and locally common also in North Africa and parts of South Europe, active daytime scavenger and also tends Homoptera on shrubs.

Egypt records - as Tapinoma erraticum Latr. var erratico-nigerrimum Forel, workers and male from Cairo by Karavaiev (1911: 9; my deduction; latter name is a nomen nudum in Bolton, 1995: 400, type location Algeria, erraticum otherwise seem to be from France and the western Mediterranean); Alfieri (1931) listed findings from the 1925 survey - Behera Province, 3 locations, Dakahlieh Province, El Hachawa, Fayoum province, Tamia; Finzi (1936: 183); only Dolichoderine listed by Mohamed et al. (2001) from Sinai, also in Lower Nile and Delta areas of Egypt.

From Egypt, it was illustrated by Savigny (Audouin, J.-V. 1825-27: Plate 20 Fig 10).

Comparison of the full face view of (left) the phoenicium type, the Savignyi drawing, and the Mike James worker (right).

The photomontage of the type worker of phoenicium is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0904017

Oxford University Museum specimens

Tapinoma simrothi B Taylor det.	Egypt M James 2001	ii.2001 Sinai 28°33' N 33°56' E	St Katherine protectorate around the town of St Katherine,  in mountains above 1500m; ground dwelling & foraging	1
Tapinoma simrothi B Taylor det.	Jordan A Lenoir 148	21.ii.2012 Dead Sea 31°42'51.1" N 35°35'09.3" E	392 m worker	1
Tapinoma simrothi B Taylor det.	Iran R Nafisi 06	19.x.2012 36°12'N 57°40'E	Sabzevar- Khorasan 3206 ft City park	4
Tapinoma simrothi B Taylor det.	Iran S Moradloo 18	20.vi.2012 32.11°N  50.26°E	Halab 1302 m 31°C City cemetery	3
Tapinoma simrothi B Taylor det.	Iran E Aram 33	24.vi.2012 37.21°N 48.27°E	Nowdeh 1485 m hand collected mountain on tree
Tapinoma simrothi B Taylor det.	Iran F Heidary 16	27.vi.2014 27.38°N 52.29°E 447 m	Sayyedhashemi hand collected near farm; on tree	3

The photomontage is of workers collected in the Sinai Desert, Egypt, St Katherine protectorate around the town of St Katherine, in mountains above 1500m, in early 2001, by Mike James, a research student of Francis Gilbert. Mike James commented that it is a solitary forager active even at the hottest time of day, when it moves very fast over the gravel with its abdomen cocked.

Type form - Elqasmia (Belbis), 21.II.2003 (4); Wadi El-Arish, 14.III.2002 (1) (SHC); Ebn Salam (Daqahliya, Egypt), 13.IV.1999 (3) Leg.M.R.Sharaf (ASUC), phoenicium - El-Marg, El-Ameryia (Sharaf list).

The photomontage is of a workers collected in Jordan, Dead Sea; A Lenoir 148.

Photomontage of a worker from Iran, Sabzevar-Khorasan; collector R Nafisi (06)

Photomontage of a worker from Iran, Halab; collector S Moradloo (18)