Tetramorium shirlae

Nothing is known about the biology of .

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia. Palaearctic Region: Egypt.

Nomenclature

 *  shirlae. Tetramorium shirlae Sharaf, in Fadl et al. 2007: 243, figs. 17, 18 (w.) SAUDI ARABIA.

Worker
HL: 1.7; HL: 0.56; HW: 0.48; SL: 0.39; SI: 81.25; EL: 0.12; PL: 0.21; PW: 0.15; PPL: 0.14; PPW: 0.19; CI: 85.7

Bicoloured species, head, alitrunk, petiole and postpetiole pale brown, antennae and legs yellow, gaster dark brown or blackish brown.

Head longer than broad, frontal carinae long and well developed reaching back about two thirds of head length; strong and longitudinal striations extending in front and behind eyes and between frontal carinae; antennae 12 segments with dense pubescence and short hairs; mandibles with feeble longitudinal striation; armed with 5 brown teeth, the terminal tooth in the largest, the third is smaller than the fourth, the latter and the fifth nearly equal. The whole mandibles surface with several long hairs; median portion of clypeus with 3 strong, longitudinal carinae; occiput weakly concave with four pairs of hairs. Alitrunk, in lateral view, without distinct sutures; meso- and metapleura with well developed granulate sculptures; propodeal spines short and acute with a broad base; pronotal anterior corners, in dorsal view, sharply angulate; pronotum dorsum with strong reticulate sculptures while mesonotum with longitudinal sculptures; pronotum with 2 pairs of stiff hairs, mesonotum with 5 pairs of hairs; propodeum bare. Petiole longer than broad, Postpetiole nearly as long as broad, each faintly sculptured and having 2 pairs of hairs. Gaster smooth and shining, anterior and posterior parts of the first gastral tergites with several pairs of hairs while the middle part bare.

Type Material
Wadi Abha, Abha city, Saudi Arabia.

Etymology
This species is named after Mrs. Shirley Judd, wife of Dr. Stephen Judd, Head of Zoology department, Liverpool National Museum, UK.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bakr R. F. A., H. H. Fadl, R. M. Badawy, and M. R. Sharaf. 2007. Myrmecophile insects associated with some ant species (Hymenoptera : Formicidae )in Egypt. The second international conference of economic entomology (Entomological Society of Egypt) ,Cairo, Egypt, 8-11 December, (1): 205-233.
 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Fadl H., R. F. Bakr, and R. M. Badawy. 2007. Six new species of ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Egypt. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of the Entomological Society of Egypt 2: 235-249.
 * Fadl, H., R. F. Bakr, M. Bawady, and M. R. Sharaf. "Six new species of ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Egypt." In Proceedings of the Second International Conference of Economic Entomology, 235-249. Vol. 1. Cairo: Entomological Society of Egypt, 2007.