Samsum ant, Brachyponera sennaarensis (Formicidae: Ponerinae): Distribution and abundance in Saudi Arabia

Journal Article

مستخلص المنشور

Invasive species are capable of causing considerable damage to natural ecosystems,
agriculture and economies throughout the World. Samsum ant, Brachyponera (Pachycondyla)
sennaarensis has been a reason for medical implication and social nuisance through its poisonous
and severely painful sting causing anaphylactic shock in many cases. We surveyed for the presence
of the samsum ant in various provinces of Saudi Arabia. B. sennaarensis was the abundant
Ponerinae species in human settlements. In the Eastern provinces, however, few samples were collected,
and none were found in the Northern and Western provinces. Infestations of B. sennaarensis
were particularly severe in the spring and summer seasons, when the ants make nests in moist areas
and in cracks in cemented structures, whereas the extent of infestation reduced in winter seasons.
ª 2015 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).