Nesomyrmex micheleae,a new ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Dhofar Governorate,Oman, with a synoptic list,distribution map and key to the Arabian Nesomyrmex

ABSTRACT

A new species of the myrmicine ant genus Nesomyrmex Wheeler, 1910, N. micheleae Sharaf sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Oman based on the worker caste. The new species is a member of the N. angulatus species group and can be diagnosed by the golden yellow gaster that contrasts with the dark brown body; the irregular longitudinal rugulose sculpture on the cephalic surface; and the finely punctate mesonotum and propodeal dorsum. A synoptic species list, an updated key and a distribution map to the Arabian Nesomyrmex species are presented. Continued ant species discoveries are central to large-scale diversity patterns, conservation biology and macroecology.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FBCEACA7-E543-4B10-AB9D-D63319DCB31F http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1D2EC498-3B2E-43CD-A3C0-1C6C237471E2     

Severity Prediction of Traffic Accident Using an Artificial Neural Network

In this paper, an artificial neural network (ANN) was used to predict the injury severity of traffic accidents based on 5973 traffic accident records occurred in Abu Dhabi over a 6‐year period (from 2008 to 2013). For each accident record, 48 different attributes had been collected at the time of the accident. After data preprocessing, the data were reduced to 16 attributes and four injury severity classes. In this study, WEKA (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis) data‐mining software was used to build the ANN classifier. The traffic accident data were used to build two classifiers in two different ways. The whole data set were used for training and validating the first classifier (training set), while 90% of the data were used for training the second classifier and the remaining 10% were used for testing it (testing set). The experimental results revealed that the developed ANN classifiers can predict accident severity with reasonable accuracy. The overall model prediction performance for the training and testing data were 81.6% and 74.6%, respectively. To improve the prediction accuracy of the ANN classifier, traffic accident data were split into three clusters using a k‐means algorithm. The results after clustering revealed significant improvement in the prediction accuracy of the ANN classifier, especially for the training dataset. In this work, and in order to validate the performance of the ANN model, an ordered probit model was also used as a comparative benchmark. The dependent variable (i.e. degree of injury) was transformed from ordinal to numerical (1, 2, 3, 4) for (minor, moderate, sever, death). The R tool was used to perform an ordered probit. For each accident, the ordered probit model showed how likely this accident would result in each class (minor, moderate, severe, death). The accuracy of 59.5% obtained from the ordered probit model was clearly less than the ANN accuracy value of 74.6%. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A preliminary survey of the insect fauna of the Hajar Mountain Range,Oman

The Hajar Mountain Range of Northern Oman is an important centre of species endemism, and of biogeographical interest as a crossroads between the Afrotropical and Palaearctic regions. Despite this, the invertebrate fauna of the region is largely unknown, with very little dedicated research or surveys having been undertaken until now. Here we present the invertebrate species collected and identified from five different survey locations within the Hajar Mountains. This preliminary checklist contains 296 records, of which 36 are new records for Oman. Our surveys also discovered two new species of ant: Lepisiota omanensis collected from Jebel Qahwan Reserve and at the base of Jebel Akhdar, and Anochetus annetteae from Hibra Village in the Nakhl Region.     

Addenda to the insect fauna of Al-Baha Province,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with zoogeographical notes

The first list of insects (Arthropoda: Hexapoda) of Al-Baha Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was published in 2013 and contained a total of 582 species. In the present study, 142 species belonging to 51 families and representing seven orders are added to the fauna of Al-Baha Province, bringing the total number of species now recorded from the province to 724. The reported species are assigned to recognized regional zoogeographical regions. Seventeen of the species are recorded for the first time for KSA, namely: Platypleura arabica Myers [Cicadidae, Hemiptera]; Cletomorpha sp.; Gonocerus juniperi Herrich-Schäffer [Coreidae, Hemiptera]; Coranus lateritius (Stål); Rhynocoris bipustulatus (Fieber) [Reduviidae, Hemiptera]; Cantacader iranicus Lis; Dictyla poecilla Drake &; Hill [Tingidae, Hemiptera]; Mantispa scabricollis McLachlan [Mantispidae, Neuroptera]; Cerocoma schreberi Fabricius [Meloidae, Coleoptera]; Platypus parallelus (Fabricius) [Curculionidae, Coleoptera]; Zodion cinereum (Fabricius) [Conopidae, Diptera]; Ulidia ?ru?ceps Becker [Ulidiidae, Diptera]; Atherigona reversura Villeneuve [Muscidae, Diptera]; Aplomya metallica (Wiedemann); Cylindromyia sp. [Tachinidae, Diptera]; Messor semirufus (André); and Nesomyrmex denticulatus (Mayr) [Formicidae, Hymenoptera]. Also, the reduviid bug Dasycnemus sahlbergi Bergroth, that was questionably recorded from KSA is confirmed herein as occurring in KSA. The generic name Peirates (Reduviidae, Hemiptera) and the specific name of Apis florea Fabricius (Apidae, Hymenoptera) were inadvertently misspelled in the original list and are corrected here. Zoogeographically, the present study supports the original study conclusion that the insect species composition of Al-Baha Province is strongly affiliated with the Afrotropical Region rather than to the Palearctic Region or the Eremic Zone. Our insect surveys emphasize the fact that parts of the Arabian Peninsula, including Al-Baha Province, ought to be considered part of the Afrotropical Region rather than in the Palaearctic Region or the Eremic Zone.     

Ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen): zoogeography,distribution and description of a new species

The animal fauna of the Socotra Archipelago is influenced by three biogeographical regions, the Afrotropical, the Oriental and the Palaearctic. Consequently, the Archipelago shares faunal elements of these three regions in addition to unique endemic taxa. The ant fauna of Socotra Island was studied and is reviewed based on literature and newly collected material. In total, 28 species, belonging to 10 genera and four subfamilies, were collected from the main island. Eighteen of these (64%) are successful invasive species, seven are native (25%), and three are considered endemic (11%), Cardiocondyla longiceps Seifert, Monomorium elghazalyi sp. nov. and Monomorium nimihil Collingwood et al. Two genera are recorded for the first time from the island, Hypoponera Santschi, and Syllophopsis Santschi. Ten species are recorded for the first time, Cardiocondyla mauritanica Forel, Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, Monomorium atomum Forel, Monomorium dichroum Forel, Monomorium exiguum Forel, Pheidole pallidula (Nylander), Syllophopsis cryptobia (Santschi), Tetramorium pauper Forel, Tetramorium transformans Santschi and Hypoponera punctatissima (Roger). Ten invasive species are recorded from Socotra, reflecting human impacts on the Archipelago. These species are Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius), Cardiocondyla emeryi Forel, Monomorium exiguum Forel, Pheidole indica Mayr, Syllophopsis cryptobia (Santschi), Tetramorium lanuginosum Mayr, Tetramorium simillimum (Smith), Tetramorium caldarium (Roger), Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerdon) and Trichomyrmex mayri (Forel). Our survey indicated a mixture of Afrotropical faunal elements (10 species, 36%), followed by cosmopolitan (nine species, 32%), Palaearctic (five species, 18%) and Oriental (four species, 14%) taxa. Two new synonyms of Monomorium exiguum Forel are proposed: Monomorium exiguum Forel = Monomorium baushare Collingwood & Agosti syn. nov. = Monomorium qarahe Collingwood & Agosti syn. nov. Tetramorium transformans Santschi is removed from synonymy with Tetramorium caldarium (Roger) and elevated to species rank. Ecological and biological notes for each species are given. Distribution maps for all species known from the Socotra Archipelago are provided.

http://zoobank/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:89612083-9CE6-48E8-8975-1CE5334E098B     

A remarkable new species of the genus Lepisiota Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Oman and the United Arab Emirates with a key to the Arabian species

Lepisiota omanensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on the worker caste collected in Jebel Qahwan Oman, and Ain Al Waal, United Arab Emirates. The new species belongs to the L. gracilicornis group and is separated easily from all Arabian Lepisiota species, and other species in the gracilicornis group, by the exceptionally long, acute and strongly curved propodeal spines. Lepisiota elegantissima Collingwood & van Harten is recorded for the first time from Oman. Lepisiota simplex (Forel) stat rev. is recognised at species rank. Ecological and biological observations are provided. A revised key to the Arabian species of Lepisiota is given. A checklist of the Arabian Lepisiota species is presented.