Lepisiota elegantissima

Workers of this unusual species have been collected from a water trap and in a malaise trap.

Identification
Collingwood et al. (2011) - An elegant elongate species with long legs and antennae, differing from Lepisiota arenaria and Lepisiota longinoda by its blunt petiole and long narrow mid-body.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: United Arab Emirates.

Castes
Known only from the worker caste.

Nomenclature

 *  elegantissima. Lepisiota elegantissima Collingwood & van Harten, in Collingwood, et al. 2011: 464, pl. 108-109 (w.) UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.

Worker
Head and gaster black, midbody and petiole yellowish brown. Legs and antennae yellow, the apical parts of mid and hind femora are suffusedly blackish. Surface sculpture dull, finely reticulate. Petiole long with very short blunt lateral processes (teeth). Propodeum with a pair of fine upright teeth. Mesonotum tube-like, very thin, narrow and long relative to pronotum and propodeum.

Measurements (in mm): Total 4.25-4.60; head length 0.80-0.82; head width 0.46-0.61, scapus length 2.0, eye diameter 0.23, petiole width 0.16; petiole length 0.56; propodeal teeth 0.09; mesonotal width 0.16; mesonotal length 0.24; hind tibia 2.04; pronotum 0.90 long, 1.46 wide. Scape index 4.44 (excessively long in comparison to other species). No dorsal hairs except for a few on clypeus and some very short hairs on petiole.

Type Material
Holotype: worker. United Arab Emirates, Wadi Maidaq [25°18'N 56°07'E], 26.x-9.xi.2006, in yellow and white water traps, leg. A. van Harten. Paratypes: 5 workers, same data as holotype but in ; 1 worker, same data but 15-31.x.2010.

Etymology
The species epiphet elegantissima is derived from ‘elegans’, Latin for elegant, meaning most elegant, referring to the shape of this very beautiful species.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Monks J., S. Ross, M. Geiser, J. De Prins, M. Sharaf, N. Wyatt, S. Al Rijeibi, and A. Polaszek. 2019. A preliminary survey of the insect fauna of the Hajar Mountain Range, Oman. Journal of Natural History 53(15-16): 939-963.
 * Sharaf M. R., J. Monks, A. Polaszek, and A. S. Aldawood. 2016. A remarkable new species of the genus Lepisiota Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Oman and the United Arab Emirates with a key to the Arabian species. Journal of Natural History http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2016.1180722