I collect this ant in many cities in Côte d'Ivoire during the survey for my Doctoral research. it is very close to Monomorium pharaonis but i am not sure it is one.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pofi5y6arm4td05/Monomorium%20F%20ZS%20DMap.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/in873ys2x0bells/Monomorium%20D%20ZS%20DMap.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/n22wetyiu2j5scb/Monomorium%20L%20ZS%20DMap.jpg?dl=0
Hi Kouakou, there is a problem with the link as you left it. When you press it, it givees three copies of the URL. Can you redo the link? It works with one copy.
(down to ?dl=0)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pofi5y6ar...Monomorium%20L%20ZS%20DMap.jpg?dl=0
Cute little ant. You must have a nice camera.
Dear Kouakou,
I don't think it is Monomorium pharaonis. One of the character to consider here is the inflated postpetiole that is very clear on your specimen but not on M. pharaonis. You can see this both on the profile and dorsal view. You can compare your specimen with those on antweb, including the type: https://www.antweb.org/bigPicture.do?name=casent0008625&shot=p&number=1
Surprisingly, your species looks like M. dichroum, an Asian distributed species. I can not see all the characteristics well enough to be positive, but this would deserve a check. Of course, considering the disjunction in distribution and IF this is the right identification (which is very speculative at this point), this could represent a new species introduction. Considering that your ant was collected within an urban environment, this seems rather possible.
Best,
Benoit
Hi Kouakou,
Interestingly, your ant looks like the one identified as "near M. pharaonis" by Henri Herrera in Galapagos. See here: https://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?name=casent0173275&project=introducedants
Both share the dilated postpetiole (as noted by Benoit), the color pattern, and pilosity with apparently no erect setae on mesosoma. Henri (comm. pers.) separates his species from M. pharaonis exactly thanks to these criteria.
The Monomorium dichroum proposed by Benoit is a very good guess. It will be easy to verify this hypothesis looking at the results of the DNA analyses recently done by you, Henri and Wouter Dekoninck in Brussels. I don't know however if sequences are available for M. dichroum...
A très bientôt
Thibaut
Dears,
Thank you very much to you. For Dr Martha O'Kennon, thank you for your advices. in fact it is three different links. I put them all because i hope that they will be separated. I took the photo with a specialized camera at Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), the museums in Brussels, Belgium. Behold the links separately:
1) https://www.dropbox.com/s/pofi5y6arm4td05/Monomorium%20F%20ZS%20DMap.jpg?dl=0
2) https://www.dropbox.com/s/pofi5y6arm4td05/Monomorium%20F%20ZS%20DMap.jpg?dl=0
3) https://www.dropbox.com/s/n22wetyiu2j5scb/Monomorium%20L%20ZS%20DMap.jpg?dl=0
Oh sorry. I missed that they were all different! Thanks for straightening that out!
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