Paussus minutulus

Diagnosis
Subgenus: Cochliopaussus

Description
Holotype repository King Saud University Museum of Arthropods (KSMA), Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Distribution
Saudi Arabia

Biology
This single specimen of Paussus was found in an area with low impact small-scale agriculture. The vegetation is characterized by dominant cactus pear. The altitude is ca 1610 m, the winters are cool and most of the 200 mm annual rainfall is concentrated between March and May (see details in chapter “Study area” above). The specimen of P. minutulus sp.n. was taken by a pitfall trap which also caught ants of the following taxa: Camponotus aegyptiacus Emery, 1915; Messor ebeninus Santschi, 1927; Monomorium jizane Collingwood & Agosti, 1996; Pheidole Westwood, 1839, sp.; Tetramorium simillimum Smith, 1851) and Tetramorium sericeiventre Emery, 1877. Members of all these genera are known as host of one or more species of Paussini (Geiselhardt et al. 2007). Paussus minutulus sp.n. forms part of the Afrotropical P. cucullatus species group, of which several members are known to be associated with Pheidole sp., including the Arabian P. rougemontianus (see, for example, Luna de Carvalho 1989).