Cardiocondyla minutior Forel 1899

Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, 1899

(Figure 10 (a–c))

Cardiocondyla nuda var. minutior Forel, 1899: 120 (w.) Hawaii. Oceania.

Diagnosis

Worker. Eyes small, with distinct microsetae; posterior margin of head straight or very weakly concave; anterior clypeal margin with feeble median concavity; mesosomal outline in profile nearly straight or feebly convex; metanotal groove weakly impressed or entirely absent; propodeal spines short and acute; petiole in profile with concave anterior face and rounded node; petiolar node in dorsal view circular and as long as broad; postpetiole low, with a completely flat sternite and without anteroventral bulge. Head, mesosoma, petiole and postpetiole varying from dirty yellow to dark dirty brown, gaster brown to blackish brown.

Material examined

Yemen, Socotra Island, Dixam (W. Zereg), 24 April 2014, 279 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.46868°N, 54.01091°E (18 w, KSMA); Yemen, Socotra Island, Himihil Protectorate, 23 April 2014, 355 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.58954°N, 54.30570°E (12w, KSMA); Yemen, Socotra Island, W. Jo’ o, 21 April 2014, 196 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.54038°N, 54.17186°E (2 w, KSMA); Yemen, Socotra Island, W. Sakhalof, 27 April 2014, 48 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.63311°N, 54.05632°E (5 w, KSMA); Yemen, Socotra Island, Lehanoh, 22 April 2014, 931 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.57583°N, 54.04836°E (10 w, KSMA); Yemen, Socotra Island, Dehejamo, 22 April 2014, 563 m, (M. R. Sharaf leg.), 12.59049°N, 54.05205°E (1 w, KSMA).

Geographic range

This species was originally described from Hawaii (Forel 1899) and is a cosmopolitan tramp species (Seifert 2003). Our collections represent a new record for Socotra Archipelago.

Ecological and biological notes

The nesting and foraging behaviours of Cardiocondyla minutior are diverse. Workers were found in leaf litter under a date palm tree where the soil was moist and rich in accumulations of domestic livestock waste. Several specimens were observed foraging in leaf litter on a mountainside near a drainage where the soil was moist and supported diverse plant cover but was dominated by Adiantum capillus-veneris L. (Pteridaceae). A number of workers were found foraging in dry leaf litter under a small Fagonia tree (Zygophyllaceae). Several workers were found nesting in the moist basal leaves of a date palm tree trunk where hundreds of Hypoponera punctatissima (Roger, 1859) workers cooccurred.