Review of the Arabian Crematogaster Lund (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), synoptic list, distribution, and description of two new species from Oman and Saudi Arabia

The genus Crematogaster is one of the most species-rich and widespread groups of ants. Despite their often-high local abundance and important ecological interactions, the taxonomy of the genus is fragmentary and in great need of modern revisionary studies. As a first step towards a revision for the Arabian fauna of Crematogaster, a review of all known species with synoptic species accounts is provided. Seventeen species are recognized and illustrated from the Arabian Peninsula, of which two new species are described: C. jacindae Sharaf & Hita Garcia, sp. nov. from the Dhofar Governorate, Oman, and C. gryllsi Sharaf & Hita Garcia, sp. nov. from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) based on the worker caste. Crematogaster jacindae sp. nov. is easily separated from the remainder of the Arabian Crematogaster fauna due to its complete lack of propodeal spines, slit-shaped propodeal spiracles, and its distinct bicoloration, whereas C. gryllsi sp. nov. is readily distinguished by its unlobed postpetiolar dorsum. Furthermore, new country records are presented: C. acaciae Forel for the KSA and Yemen, and C. delagoensis Forel and C. jehovae Forel for the KSAC. antaris for Qatar, whereas C. luctans Forel is excluded from the Arabian fauna. In addition, on the basis of morphological examination of original type material, C. affabilis Forel is proposed as junior synonym of C. chiarinii Mayr, and C. striaticeps is elevated to species rank stat. nov. Furthermore, a new identification key for the Arabian species is provided, as well as distribution maps for all species

Review of the ant genus Meranoplus Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Arabian Peninsula with description of a new species M. mosalahi sp. n. from Oman

The species of Meranoplus Smith, 1853 of the Arabian Peninsula are reviewed based on the worker caste. Two species are recognized, keyed, and illustrated by Scanning Electron Microscope images (SEM), Meranoplus mosalahi and M. pulcher, Sharaf, 2014. Meranoplus mosalahi sp. n. is described from the Dhofar Governorate, Oman based on the worker caste. The new species belongs to the M. magrettii-group and closely resembles M. pulcher Sharaf, 2014 from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), from which it can be distinguished by the bicolored body, the shallowly concave anterior clypeal margin, the absence of well-developed anterior clypeal teeth, the fewer irregular longitudinal cephalic rugae, and the feeble longitudinal rugae on posterior face of petiolar node

A contribution to the study of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Eastern Iran.

Das faunistische Verzeichnis mehrerer Regionen in Ost-Iran nennt 30 Ameisenarten, die zu 17 Gattungen gehören: Aphaenogaster Mayr 1853, Camponotus Mayr 1861, Cataglyphis Foerster 1850, Crematogaster Lund 1831, Dolichoderus Lund 1831, Formica Linnaeus 1758, Lasius Fabricius 1804, Lepisiota Santschi 1926, Linepithema Mayr 1866, Messor Forel 1890, Monomorium Mayr 1855, Plagiolepis Mayr 1861, Pachycondyla Smith 1858, Pheidole Westwood 1839, Polyrhachis Smith 1857, Solenopsis Westwood 1840, Tapinoma Foerster 1850. Zwei Arten, Crematogaster laestrygon Emery, 1869 und Camponotus adenensis Emery, 1893 werden erstmals für Iran nachgewiesen. Die Mehrzahl der behandelten Taxa ist weit verbreitet. Offensichtlich endemische Arten wurden nicht gesammelt. Weiterhin wird die lokale und weltweite Verbreitung der gesammelten Arten dargestellt.StichwörterPalearctic region, Middle East, distribution, list, new record, Iran.A faunistic inventory of several regions of eastern Iran revealed 30 ant species belonging to 17 genera (Aphaenogaster Mayr 1853, Camponotus Mayr 1861, Cataglyphis Foerster 1850, Crematogaster Lund 1831, Dolichoderus Lund 1831, Formica Linnaeus 1758, Lasius Fabricius 1804, Lepisiota Santschi 1926, Linepithema Mayr 1866, Messor Forel 1890, Monomorium Mayr 1855, Plagiolepis Mayr 1861, Pachycondyla Smith 1858, Pheidole Westwood 1839, Polyrhachis Smith 1857, Solenopsis Westwood 1840, Tapinoma Foerster 1850. Two species, Crematogaster laestrygon Emery, 1869 and Camponotus adenensis Emery, 1893 are recorded for the first time from Iran. The majority of species were widespread taxa. No apparently endemic species were collected. Information on local and world distribution of collected species is presented.KeywordsPalearctic region, Middle East, distribution, list, new record, Iran

First occurrence of the ant genus Brachymyrmex Mayr, 1868 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The formicine ant genus Brachymyrmex Mayr, 1868 is recorded for the first time from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and from the Arabian Peninsula by the species B. cordemoyi Forel, 1895. A brief description and automontage images of the species are presented with ecological and biological notes

Taxonomy of Arabian Temnothorax Mayr (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) with description of a new species enhanced by x-ray microtomography

Temnothorax elmenshawyi sp. n., a new ant species from the Asir Mountains of the southwestern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is described based on the worker caste. The new species is a member of the T. exilis species group and is distinguished from the other species included in this group by the impressed metanotal groove, the short, acute and broadly-based propodeal spines, the finely punctate posterior half of cephalic surface, and absence of a median clypeal carina. Despite extensive collecting by the authors at the type locality, only two specimens are available for description, suggesting that this species may be rare and likely endemic to the Asir Mountains. The species description is complemented by still images of volume renderings of a 3D model and a 3D rotation video of the holotype based on x-ray microtomography (micro-CT), allowing remote in-depth examination of the specimen. The virtual micro-CT data is provided as cybertype dataset and freely available online https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4gg39k6, as well as 3D surface model (Sketchfab.com, https://skfb.ly/6HYRz). An updated identification key to the Arabian species is presented.journal articl

Review of the ant genus Technomyrmex Mayr, 1872 in the Arabian Peninsula (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

The taxonomy of the dolichoderine ants of the genus Technomyrmex Mayr, 1872 is revised for the Arabian Peninsula. Six species are treated, T. albipes (F. Smith, 1861), T. difficilis Forel, 1892, T. briani Sharaf, 2009, T. vexatus (Santschi, 1919), T. montaseri Sharaf, Collingwood & Aldawood, 2011, and T. setosus Collingwood, 1985. The successful tramp species T. difficilis Forel, 1892 is recorded for the first time from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Yemen, representing new records for the Palearctic Region. Technomyrmex vexatus (Santschi, 1919) is a new species record for Yemen. The queen caste of the rare endemic species, T. briani Sharaf, 2009 is described for the first time. A neotype for KSA endemic T. setosus Collingwood 1985 is designated based on a specimen collected from the type locality, the Asir Mountains, KSA, including new information on habitats and distribution. A male cast of Technomyrmex, possibly of T. setosus, is also described. An illustrated key based on the worker caste of the Arabian species of Technomyrmex is given. New geographical records and a distribution map for the treated species are presented

Forecasting peak energy demand for smart buildings

Predicting energy consumption in buildings plays an important part in the process of digital transformation of the built environment, and for understanding the potential for energy savings. This also contributes to reducing the impact of climate change, where buildings need to increase their adaptability and resilience while reducing energy consumption and maintain user comfort. The use of Internet of Things devices for monitoring and control of energy consumption in buildings can take into account user preferences, event monitoring and building optimization. Detecting peak energy demand from historical building data can enable users to manage their energy use more efficiently, while also enabling real-time response strategies (including control and actuation) to known or future scenarios. Several statistical, time series, and machine learning techniques are proposed in this work to predict electricity consumption for five different building types, by using peak demand forecasting to achieve energy efficiency. We have used several indigenous and exogenous variables with a view to test different energy forecasting scenarios. The suggested techniques are evaluated for creating predictive models, including linear Regression, dynamic regression, ARIMA time series, exponential smoothing time series, artificial neural network, and deep neural network. We conduct the analysis on an energy consumption dataset of five buildings from 2014 until 2019. Our results show that for a day ahead prediction, the ARIMA model outperforms the other approaches with an accuracy of 98.91% when executed over a 168 h (1 week) of uninterrupted data for five government buildings

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<div><p>The red palm weevil (RPW, <i>Rhynchophorus ferrugineus</i>), one of the most widespread of all invasive insect pest species, is a major cause of severe damage to economically important palm trees. RPW exhibits behaviors very similar to those of its sympatric species, the Asian palm weevil (<i>R</i>. <i>vulneratus</i>), which is restricted geographically to the southern part of Southeast Asia. Although efficient and sustainable control of these pests remains challenging, olfactory-system disruption has been proposed as a promising approach for controlling palm weevils. Here, we report the cloning and sequencing of an olfactory co-receptor (Orco) from <i>R</i>. <i>ferrugineus</i> (RferOrco) and <i>R</i>. <i>vulneratus</i> (RvulOrco) and examine the effects of RferOrco silencing (RNAi) on odorant detection. RferOrco and RvulOrco encoding 482 amino acids showing 99.58% identity. The injection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) from RferOrco into <i>R</i>. <i>ferrugineus</i> pupae significantly reduced RferOrco gene expression and led to the failure of odor-stimulus detection, as confirmed through olfactometer and electroantennography (EAG) assays. These results suggest that olfactory-system disruption leading to reduced pheromone detection holds great potential for RPW pest-control strategies.</p></div

A New Ant Species of the Genus Tetramorium Mayr, 1855 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Saudi Arabia, with a Revised Key to the Arabian Species

Tetramorium amalae sp. n. is described and illustrated from Saudi Arabia based on two worker caste specimens collected in Al Bahah region. The new species belongs to the T. shilohense group and appears to be closely related to T. dysderke Bolton from Nigeria. T. amalae is distinguished by having well-developed frontal carinae, smaller eyes, greater head length and width, greater pronotal width, and the petiole node is longer than broad. Tetramorium latinode Collingwood & Agosti is recorded for the first time from Saudi Arabia and for only the second time since the original description. The worker caste of T. latinode is redescribed and illustrated using scanning electron micrographs to facilitate recognition and the gyne is described for the first time with observations given on species relationships, biology and habitat. A revised key to the nineteen Tetramorium species recorded from Arabian Peninsula based on worker castes is provided. Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) is recorded for the first time from Saudi Arabia. It is suggested that T. amalae and T. latinode are endemic to the Arabian Peninsula

Taxonomy of the Myrmicine ant genus &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax&lt;/i&gt; Mayr, 1861 (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in the Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Temnothorax Mayr, 1861 fauna is revised for the first time. Three species are recognized from the region: Temnothorax arabicus Sharaf &amp; Akbar sp. nov., T. liviae (Agosti &amp; Collingwood, 2011) comb. nov. and T. megalops (Hamann &amp; Klemm, 1967). Leptothorax saudiae Collingwood &amp; Agosti, 1996 was placed in Temnothorax by Bolton (2003), but actually belongs to Tetramorium Mayr, 1855 and is herewithin recombined to Tetramorium saudiae (Collingwood &amp; Agosti, 1996) comb. nov. Automontage images and comparative diagnoses of workers as well as notes on habitats and distribution of treated species are provided. A revised key to the Arabian species based on the worker caste is also presented.</p