Lepisiota spinisquama

Lepisiota spinisquama (Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929) (Figure 14) Acantholepis frauenfeldi subsp. spinisquama Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929, p. 483, fig. 3 (w.) Kazakhstan. Palaearctic. Diagnosis Worker. Colour black, antennae, tibiae, and tarsi yellow; antennal scapes surpassing posterior margin of head by more than half of its length when laid back from their insertions; propodeal spines short, acute, and curved in profile; petiole bituberculate; pronotum with a single pair of long hairs; body smooth and shining. Material examined. One site: 2. Geographic range. This species was originally described from Kazakhstan, and it has been recorded from Iran (Pashaei Rad et al. 2018), the KSA (Collingwood and Agosti 1996; Sharaf et al. 2023), Yemen (Collingwood and van Harten 2001), UAE (unpublished data), Oman (Sharaf et al. 2018b; Monks et al. 2019), and the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen) (Collingwood et al. 2004; Sharaf et al. 2017). Ecology and biology. Nests are built directly in the earth under stones, with a remarkable preference for humid soil that is rich in organic matter (Sharaf et al. 2017), feeding on dead insects and also attending mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). For more details about the biology of species see Sharaf et al. (2017).