Monomorium abeillei Andre 1881

Monomorium abeillei André, 1881 (Figure 26) Monomorium abeillei André, 1881b, p. 531 (w.) Israel. Palaearctic. Diagnosis Worker. Colour uniform brown-black to black; with 9–10 ommatidia in longest row; mesosoma in profile with promesonotal dorsum meeting flat propodeum at oblique angle; metanotal groove feebly impressed; propodeum with well-defined, longitudinal furrow; petiole in profile with high, rounded triangular dorsum; pronotum and petiole each with one pair of setae, postpetiole with two pairs; head, pronotum, and nodes superficially reticulate; gaster shining with superficial sculpture. Material examined Fourteen sites: 2; 3; 4; 8; 9; 10; 11; 13; 15; 21; 24; 27; 29; 30. Geographic range. A palaearctic species originally described from Israel and widespread in countries of the Middle East including Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Syria (Borowiec and Salata 2020), and all countries of the Arabian Peninsula: the KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen (Collingwood 1985; Collingwood and Agosti 1996; Sharaf et al. 2021), Qatar (Sharaf et al. 2020a), and the UAE (Tigar and Collingwood 1993; Collingwood et al. 2011). It is one of the most common Monomorium species in the KSA. Ecology and biology. The habitat preference of M. abeillei includes sandy desert (Collingwood and Agosti 1996), leaf litter (Sharaf, unpublished data), coastal areas, and high ground in the Asir mountains above 2200 m.a.s.l. (Collingwood 1985). In the Riyadh Province (KSA), it nests in sandy habitats and forages next to Rhazya stricta Decnet (Apocynaceae) in the Rawdhat Khorim National Park (Salman 2018).