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The genus Raveniola Zonstein, 1987 is found to be represented in Western Asia by 16 species: ♂♀ R. adjarica sp. nov. (Georgia), ♂ R. anadolu sp. nov. (Turkey), ♂ R. arthuri Kunt & Yağmur, 2010 (Turkey), ♂ R. birecikensis sp. nov. (Turkey), ♂♀ R. dunini sp. nov. (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran), ♂♀ R. hyrcanica Dunin, 1988 (Azerbaijan), ♂ R. marusiki sp. nov. (Iran), ♂ R. mazandaranica Marusik, Zamani & Mirshamsi, 2014 (Iran), ♂♀ R. micropa (Ausserer, 1871) (Turkey), ♀ R. nana sp. nov. (Turkey), ♂♀ R. niedermeyeri (Brignoli, 1972) (Iran), ♂♀ R. pontica (Spassky, 1937) (Russia, Georgia), ♀ R. sinani sp. nov. (Turkey), ♂♀ R. turcica sp. nov. (Turkey), ♂♀ R. vonwicki Zonstein, 2000 (Iran) and ♂♀ R. zaitzevi (Charitonov, 1948) (Azerbaijan, Georgia) = ♀ Brachythele recki Mcheidze, 1983, syn. nov. Eight species are described as new; others are redescribed from types and/or conspecific material. Males of R. micropa and R. zaitzevi, hitherto unknown, are described for the first time. Data on the variability, relationships, distribution and ecology of all considered species are also provided.
The Sultanate of Oman is a country on the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, near the intersection of the Afrotropical, Palaearctic, and Indomalayan biogeographic realms. We surveyed ants at 18 sites between 16 and 22 November 2017 using beating sheets, hand picking, Malaise traps, sifting trays, sweeping net, and light traps on the coastal plains and monsoon slopes of Dhofar Governorate in southwest Oman, an area that is relatively verdant due to its exposure to monsoons between June and September. We collected 37 ant species, including 11 species recorded for the first time from Oman: Camponotus diplopunctatus Emery, 1915, Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, 1899, Cardiocondyla wroughtonii (Forel, 1890), Carebara arabica (Collingwood & van Harten, 2001), Leptanilla islamica Baroni Urbani, 1977, Monomorium clavicorne André, 1881, Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851), Monomorium sahlbergi Emery, 1898, Strumigenys membranifera Emery, 1869, Anochetus sedilloti Emery, 1884, and Hypoponera ragusai (Emery, 1894). In total, 130 ant species are now known from Oman, including 53 from Dhofar. The known ants of Dhofar are primarily of Afrotropical origin (23 species, 43%), followed by Palearctic (20 species, 38%), and Indomalayan (4 species, 8%), and a single species from both the Malagasy and Neotropical Regions (1%). Five species (9%) are apparently endemic to Dhofar, Lepisiota dhofara Collingwood & Agosti, 1996, Lepisiota elbazi Sharaf & Hita Garcia, 2020, Crematogaster jacindae Sharaf & Hita Garcia, 2019, Meranoplus mosalahi Sharaf, 2019, and Nesomyrmex micheleae Sharaf, 2020. The zoogeography of the Omani ant fauna reflects a clear dominance of faunal elements from the Palearctic Region (68 species, 53%) followed by Afrotropical faunal elements (45 species, 34%), and five species that are broadly spread throughout both the Palearctic and the Afrotropical Regions (4%). There are nine species (6%) from the Indomalayan Region, two species from the Neotropical Region (2%), T. melanocephalum, C. emeryi, and a single species Ph. megacephala (1%) from the Malagasy Region. The number of endemic species (15 species, 12%) is relatively low compared to the large geographical area of Oman and the broad diversity of habitats that characterizes the country.
The ant genus Trichomyrmex Mayr, 1865 is revised for the Arabian Peninsula based on the worker caste. Nine species are recognized and descriptions of two new species, T. almosayari sp. nov. and T. shakeri sp. nov. from Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia, are given. For nomenclatural stability, lectotypes for T. abyssinicus (Forel, 1894a), T. lameerei (Forel, 1902) and T. mayri (Forel, 1902) are designated. A key to species and diagnostic characters of the treated species are presented. New country records are presented for T. abyssinicus (Saudi Arabia), T. destructor (Jerdon, 1851) (Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and T. mayri (Qatar). New distributional records for T. destructor and T. mayri for Saudi Arabia are also provided. World and regional species distributions are indicated and distributional maps for nine Arabian species are included. Ecological and biological information is given when known.