Bothriomyrmex urartus

The species dwells in open arid biotopes, with nests built under stones. Winged queens and males were found in nests in mid-June (Dubovikoff, 2002).

Identification
Dubovikoff (2002) - Close to Bothriomyrmex communista occurring in the Crimea and western Caucasus. The new species is clearly distinguished from B. communista by the presence of short erect pubescence of the body in females and the structure of the male genitalia. Workers of these two species are poorly distinguishable (as also workers of most Bothriomyrmex species); their measurements and indices may frequently overlap.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Armenia.

Nomenclature

 *  urartus. Bothriomyrmex urartus Dubovikoff, 2002: 919, figs. 4-10 (w.q.m.) ARMENIA.

Worker
Thorax without, or, occasionally, with weakly marked metanotal depression. Head, thorax, and legs light fuscous; abdomen dark. Body with only short recumbent hairs. Chaetae present only on outer and inner margins of clypeus and outer margins of abdominal tergites. Fore coxa with two long chaetae. CI = 90-95; SI = 80-85.

Queen
Body dark fuscous; leg and antennae light fuscous. Recumbent abdominal pubesence dense everywhere (distance between hair much less than their length). Head, mesoscutum, scutellum, and abdominal tergite with short erect hair. Abdominal erect hairs present on all tergite surfaces, rather than only on their posterior margins. Declivous surface of abdominal tergite I with short erect hair. Scapus projecting beyond occipital head margin by about 1.5 scapus diameters. Cl = 91 (91); SI = 81 - 82 (81).

Male
Body dark fuscous; recumbent pubescence finer than that in queens. Erect hairs, short and not numerous, present only on ultimate abdominal tergite. Scapus short, projecting beyond outer eye margin (in front view) by about 2 scapus diameters. Subgenital plate with shallow notch; upper margin of sagitta almost right-angled. Volsella deeply notched. CI = 123-126; OI = 91.

Type Material
Holotype: Q, Armenia, environs of Yerevan, Dzhrvezh, 19.6.1988, no. 203-88, A. Radchenko. Paratypes: Armenia: 1 Q, 2M, 2 W, labels as in holotype (ZISP); 4Q, 3M, 4W, Khosrovskii Nature Reserve, Yedi district, under stone, no. 242-86, 14.VI.1986, A. Radchenko ; 4 W, 4 M, same locality, under stone, no. 301-86, 17.VI.1986, Petrenko (ZISP); 2 Q, 3 M, 8 W, Karabakhlar, Vedi, no. 1126, 17.VI.1960, G. Dlusskii.

Etymology
The species is named after the ancient state Urartu, which existed on the territory of Armenian Upland in 9-6th centuries B. D.

Determination Clarifications
The record of Bothriomyrmex communista from Armenia (Arakelyan, 1994) should be referred to Bothriomyrmex urartus.

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.
 * Dubovikoff D. A. 2002. New species of the ant genus Bothriomyrmex Emery, 1869 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Caucasus. Entomol. Obozr. 81: 918-922.
 * Seifert B. 2012. A review of the West Palearctic species of the ant genus Bothriomyrmex Emery 1869 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 17: 91-104.