Key to Solenopsis workers of Egypt

This worker key is based on: [[Media:Klingenberg et al 2009.pdf|Sharaf, M. R., B. Taylor and C. Klingenberg. 2009. Ants of the genus Solenopsis Westwood, 1840 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Egypt with a description of the worker castes of S. cooperi Donisthorpe, 1947. Zootaxa. 2004:49-58. PDF]]

The genus members are monomorphic or polymorphic. The workers can be distinguished from all other genera of the subfamily Myrmicinae by the combination of the following characters: Mandibles with three or four teeth. Palp formula 2,2 or 1,2. Clypeus strongly longitudinally bicarinate, with the median area sharply elevated and deeply inserted between the closely approximated frontal lobes. Anterior margin of clypeus with a single unpaired long median seta. Antennae 10-segmented (very rarely 9-segmented) with a 2-segmented club. Frontal carinae and antennal scrobes absent. Propodeum unarmed.

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 * Solenopsis
 * Key to Solenopsis queens and males of Egypt

1

 * Eyes with more than one facet . . . . . 2


 * Eyes with a single facet . . . . . 3

2
return to couplet #1
 * Eyes with 9 facets, the outer circle of facets enclosing a single relatively large facet; head with weakly convex sides and an impressed occipital margin . . . . . Solenopsis lou


 * Eyes with 12 facets and 4 facets in the longest row; head with nearly parallel sides and a distinctive flattened profile . . . . . major workers of . . . . . Solenopsis cooperi

3
return to couplet #1
 * Head in face view with nearly parallel sides; head in lateral view with flat dorsal and ventral surfaces; propodeum profile with distinct angle at junction of dorsum and declivity; CI ca 78, SI ca 80 . . . . . minor workers of . . . . . Solenopsis cooperi


 * Head in face view with sides nearly parallel or shallowly convex; head in lateral view with convex dorsal and ventral surfaces; propodeum profile with a smoothly rounded transition from dorsum to declivity; CI ca 85 or more, SI ca 75 . . . . . 4

4
return to couplet #3
 * TL 2.0; head in face view with shallowly convex sides with widely rounded posterior corners; eye length 0.04 times head width (EL 0.02) . . . . . Solenopsis kochi


 * TL 1.30–1.71; head in face view with clearly parallel sides; eye length 0.1 times head width (EL 0.04–0.05) . . . . . Solenopsis occipitalis