A new genus and species from Algeria: the trap-jaw ant Anochetus ghilianii (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Occurrence
Versão mais recente published by Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona on mar 25, 2025 Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona
Publication date:
25 de março de 2025
Licença:
CC-BY 4.0

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Descrição

Entomological investigations in western Algeria have led to the first observation of the trap-jaw ant Anochetus ghilianii (Spinola 1851) in the country. Five nests were found under stones in two agricultural orchards in the Hauts Plateaux of Meghila and Hammam Tires (Tissemsilt department). This finding marks the first record of the genus Anochetus in Algeria, increasing the number of ant genera known in the country to 35 and the number of species to 219. This species was so far only known from Morocco and Spain, and suspected to be introduced in the latter. Additionally, a list detailing the other ant species collected in the two orchards is provided.

Registros de Dados

Os dados deste recurso de ocorrência foram publicados como um Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), que é o formato padronizado para compartilhamento de dados de biodiversidade como um conjunto de uma ou mais tabelas de dados. A tabela de dados do núcleo contém 27 registros.

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Direitos

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O editor e o detentor dos direitos deste trabalho é Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

Este recurso foi registrado no GBIF e atribuído ao seguinte GBIF UUID: e9641b22-0b77-4f80-855b-a6ee3c7e53f6.  Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona publica este recurso, e está registrado no GBIF como um publicador de dados aprovado por GBIF Spain.

Palavras-chave

Occurrence; First record; North Africa; Tissemsilt; Western Algeria; Biodiversity

Contatos

L. Hamecha
  • Provedor Dos Metadados
  • Originador
  • Ponto De Contato
Faculty of Sciences, Ben-Youcef Ben-Khedda University
Algiers
DZ
M. Mairif
  • Provedor Dos Metadados
  • Originador
  • Ponto De Contato
Tissemsilt University
Tissemsilt
DZ
A. Taheri
  • Provedor Dos Metadados
  • Originador
  • Ponto De Contato
Abdelmalek Essaadi University
Tétouan
MA
Y. Messaoud
  • Originador
  • Ponto De Contato
Ben-Youcef Ben-Khedda University
Algiers
DZ
T. Djetti
  • Provedor Dos Metadados
  • Originador
  • Ponto De Contato
Tissemsilt University
Tissemsilt
DZ
Y. Massaoud
  • Provedor Dos Metadados
Ben-Youcef Ben-Khedda University
Algiers
DZ
Montse Ferrer
  • Usuário
Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoologica, Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona
ES

Cobertura Geográfica

In March and April 2024 we surveyed ants in two sites in the Tissemsilt region (western Algeria), about 220 km SW from the capital Algiers (fig. 1), consisting of natural and agricultural environments. The region has a dry, continental climate, classified as BSk according to the Koppen-Geiger climatemap (Kottek et al 2006). Site 1 (fig. 2A): Mghila, municipality of Theniet El Had, agricultural orchard (35.773639, 2.115222, 910 m, 07/03/2024). Site 2 (fig. 2B): Hammam Tires, municipality of Tissemsilt, cultivated wheat orchard (35.604722, 1.789722, 867 m, 20/05/2024). Both fields are located on a vertisol substrate covered with low vegetation characterised by diplotax Diplotaxis harra and donkey cucumber Ecballium elaterium. At each site, we searched for ant nests under stones, and foragers moving on the ground.

Coordenadas delimitadoras Sul Oeste [35,605, 1,79], Norte Leste [35,774, 2,115]

Cobertura Taxonômica

Nenhuma descrição disponível

Ordem Hymenoptera
Família Formicidae
Subfamília Dolichderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae, Ponerinae

Dados Sobre o Projeto

Entomological investigations in western Algeria have led to the first observation of the trap-jaw ant Anochetus ghilianii (Spinola 1851) in the country. Five nests were found under stones in two agricultural orchards in the Hauts Plateaux of Meghila and Hammam Tires (Tissemsilt department). This finding marks the first record of the genus Anochetus in Algeria, increasing the number of ant genera known in the country to 35 and the number of species to 219. This species was so far only known from Morocco and Spain, and suspected to be introduced in the latter. Additionally, a list detailing the other ant species collected in the two orchards is provided.

Título A new genus and species from Algeria: the trap-jaw ant Anochetus ghilianii (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
Identificador https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2025.23.0063
Descrição da Área de Estudo In March and April 2024 we surveyed ants in two sites in the Tissemsilt region (western Algeria), about 220 km SW from the capital Algiers (fig. 1), consisting of natural and agricultural environments. The region has a dry, continental climate, classified as BSk according to the Koppen-Geiger climatemap (Kottek et al 2006). Site 1 (fig. 2A): Mghila, municipality of Theniet El Had, agricultural orchard (35.773639, 2.115222, 910 m, 07/03/2024). Site 2 (fig. 2B): Hammam Tires, municipality of Tissemsilt, cultivated wheat orchard (35.604722, 1.789722, 867 m, 20/05/2024). Both fields are located on a vertisol substrate covered with low vegetation characterised by diplotax Diplotaxis harra and donkey cucumber Ecballium elaterium. At each site, we searched for ant nests under stones, and foragers moving on the ground.
Descrição do Design The Emberger climategram was used to classify the sites according to the bioclimatic zones (fig. 3). For this purpose, we used climate variables such as the maximum and minimum temperature of respectively the warmest and coldest months with annual precipitation of each site were used to estimate the aridity index (Q-values, Stewart 1969). Anochetus ghilianii was identified based on the key of Kugler and Ionescu (2007). Specimens were preserved in 75-100 % ethanol and kept in the following personal collections: L Hamecha (Ben-Youcef Ben-Khedda Univ., Algeria), M Mairif (Tissemsilt of Univ., Algeria), and J-L Reyes-López (Univ. of Cordoba, Spain)

O pessoal envolvido no projeto:

L. Hamecha
  • Autor

Métodos de Amostragem

The Emberger climategram was used to classify the sites according to the bioclimatic zones (fig. 3). For this purpose, we used climate variables such as the maximum and minimum temperature of respectively the warmest and coldest months with annual precipitation of each site were used to estimate the aridity index (Q-values, Stewart 1969).

Área de Estudo In March and April 2024 we surveyed ants in two sites in the Tissemsilt region (western Algeria), about 220 km SW from the capital Algiers (fig. 1), consisting of natural and agricultural environments. The region has a dry, continental climate, classified as BSk according to the Koppen-Geiger climatemap (Kottek et al 2006). Site 1 (fig. 2A): Mghila, municipality of Theniet El Had, agricultural orchard (35.773639, 2.115222, 910 m, 07/03/2024). Site 2 (fig. 2B): Hammam Tires, municipality of Tissemsilt, cultivated wheat orchard (35.604722, 1.789722, 867 m, 20/05/2024). Both fields are located on a vertisol substrate covered with low vegetation characterised by diplotax Diplotaxis harra and donkey cucumber Ecballium elaterium. At each site, we searched for ant nests under stones, and foragers moving on the ground.
Controle de Qualidade Anochetus ghilianii was identified based on the key of Kugler and Ionescu (2007). Specimens were preserved in 75-100 % ethanol and kept in the following personal collections: L Hamecha (Ben-Youcef Ben-Khedda Univ., Algeria), M Mairif (Tissemsilt of Univ., Algeria), and J-L Reyes-López (Univ. of Cordoba, Spain).

Descrição dos passos do método:

  1. At each site, we searched for ant nests under stones, and foragers moving on the ground

Citações bibliográficas

  1. Hamecha L, Mairif M, Taheri A, Messaoud Y, Djetti T, 2025. A new genus and species from Algeria: the trap-jaw ant Anochetus ghilianii (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica 23, 63-67. DOI: 10.32800/amz.2025.23.0063 htpps://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2025.23.0063

Metadados Adicionais

Introduction

Ponerinae is the fourth largest subfamily of Formicidae family in the world (Schmidt and Shattuck 2014), preceded by Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, and Myrmicinae. It is a diverse group with a predominantly tropical distribution (Bolton 1994 2003). In Algeria, this subfamily comprises three genera: Hypoponera Santschi, Odontomachus Latreille, and Ponera Latreille (Bolton 2003, Borowiec 2014).  

The genus Anochetus, widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions globally, includes 124 extant and 9 fossil species, and they are the only trap-jaw ants in the western Palearctic (Bolton 2024). They live in small nests located in soil, termite nests, under logs, in rotten wood, and beneath rocks (Brown 1976, 1978).

The Mediterranean region hosts three Anochetus species: Anochetus bytinskii Kugler and Ionescu, 2007, A. ghilianii (Spinola 1851), and Anochetus sedilloti Emery, 1884 (Brown 1978). A. bytinskii is known only from the northern half of Israel  (Kugler and Ionescu 2007); A. sedilloti, has a wide distribution range extending across the northern Afrotropics from Senegal to Ethiopia, is also recorded in Tunisia, and is considered exotic in the Arabian Peninsula to western India (Kugler and Ionescu 2007, Guénard et al 2017); finally, A. ghilianii is known from Morocco and Spain, and thought to be introduced in the latter (Jowers et al 2015). This species is the only one of its genus to reach the extreme western Mediterranean, where it is considered a tertiary relict (Tinaut et al 2005). However, it is not easy to find because of its hypogean habitat. Here, we report the first record of the species in Algeria, the second North African country to document its presence.

Identificadores alternativos 10.15470/o3zxvj
https://ipt.gbif.es/resource?r=entomological_biodiversity_maamora_forest