A preliminary list of the Ant Fauna in Northeastern Sahara of Algeria (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

We present here a preliminary list of ant fauna of some study sites in thenortheastern Sahara of Algeria using two methodologies, quadrat andpitfall traps (Barber-pots) methods. This work was conducted in wild andagricultural ecosystems in the basin of Ouargla, El-Oued region and Djamaaregion. We record a total of 26 species of 12 genera belonging to threesubfamilies Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, and Myrmicinae. Species of theMyrmicinae and Formicinae were the most abundant with 62.96% and29.63% respectively. The most diverse genus was Monomorium Mayr, 1855(6 species), followed by Messor Forel, 1890 (5). The highest diversity of antswas in Djamaa region (24 species), followed by Ouargla (18) and El-Oued(13). Moreover, this work shows the first record of the species Strumigenysmembranifera Emery, 1869 for the Country. Finally, we observed a variationin the distribution of ant species between study sites, for why, ecologicaldeterminants such as soil need to be studied deeply to explain their influenceon the repartition and richness of the Saharan myrmycofauna of Algeria.