Tetramorium pauper

Tetramorium pauper was found nesting inside a small decayed twig in Yemen (Sharaf et al., 2017). The soil was moist due to irrigation of the date palm orchard. Several workers were nesting under a rock. A nest series was collected from a dry leaf litter next to a date palm tree using a sifting tray.

Identification
A member of the Tetramorium simillimum species group.

Sharaf et al. (2017) - Worker. Anterior clypeal margin lacking a median notch; frontal carinae very short, ending just behind frontal lobes; antennal scrobes absent; eyes distinctly small with four ommatidia in the longest row; propodeum armed with reduced acute tubercles; cephalic dorsum superficially sculptured; body pilosity short, stout and blunt. Colour uniform yellowish brown or pale brown.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Kenya, Socotra Archipelago, Yemen.

Nomenclature

 *  pauper. Tetramorium pauper Forel, 1907a: 14 (w.) KENYA. See also: Bolton, 1980: 317.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bolton B. 1980. The ant tribe Tetramoriini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The genus Tetramorium Mayr in the Ethiopian zoogeographical region. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 40: 193-384.
 * IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
 * Samways M. J. 1990. Species temporal variability: epigaeic ant assemblages and management for abundance and scarcity. Oecologia 84: 482-490.