The ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Socotra Archipelago
Author
Collingwood, C. A., Pohl, F., Güsten, R., Wranik, W., van Harten, A.
text
Fauna of Arabia
2004
20
473
495
journal article
21117
0.5281/zenodo.12560
Tetramorium caldarium (Roger, 1857)
Fig. 9
Tetrogmus caldarius Roger, 1857
. - Berl. Entomol. Z. 1: 12. (Poland).
Specimens
examined:
Yemen
,
Socotra Island
:
1 ☿
,
Wadi Daneghan
,
12°37N
54°04'E
,
90 m
,
21-22.X.2000
,
H. Pohl
,
HLMD-Hym-2073
;
4 ☿☿
,
1 9
,
Coeeh
,
12°32'N
54°10'E
,
240 m
,
23.X.2000
,
A. van Harten
,
HLMD-Hym-2074
,
NHCY
;
1 ☿
,
Coeeh
,
12°32'N
54°10'E
,
240 m
,
23.X.2000
,
H. Pohl
,
NHCY
;
1 ☿
,
Nojid
,
Farmihin
,
Steroh, wadi
,
12°24'N
54°09'E
,
24.X.2000
,
A. van Harten
,
HLMD-Hym-2075
;
7 ☿☿
,
Wadi Daneghan
,
12°37'N
54°04'E
,
90 m
,
pitfall traps
,
28-30.X.2000
,
A. van Harten
&
H. Pohl
,
HLMD-Hym-2076
,
NHCY
,
CCC
;
1 ☿
,
Hadibo and immediate surroundings
,
12°37'N
54°01'E
,
01.XI.2000
,
A. van Harten
,
HLMD-Hym-2077
.
Remarks:
Tetramorium caldarium
is generally considered a less common, though also widely recorded, tramp species than its close relative
T. simillimum
. The picture of their distribution is somewhat unclear, the two long having been considered synonyms. In contrast to
T. simillimum
, the frontal carinae are feebly developed and the antennal scrobes virtually absent in
T. caldarium
. The Socotran examples belong to a rarer variant (
"transformant"
) which has the frontal carinae separated by less than half the head width behind the eyes. This form may constitute a separate species and could originate from eastern Africa (Bolton 1980), casting some doubt whether it has been transferred artificially to Socotra. No records of
T. caldarium
from the Arabian Peninsula have been brought forth.