Ants of the genus Syllophopsis Santschi, 1915 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Saudi Arabia with description of a new species

The myrmicine ant genus Syllophopsis in Saudi Arabia is reviewed. Two species are recognized, S. kondratieffi (Sharaf & Aldawood, 2013) and S. saudiensis sp. n. Syllophopsis saudiensis is described and illustrated from the central and eastern regions of Saudi Arabia based on the worker caste. This new species is most similar to S. thrascolepta (Bolton, 1987) from the Ivory Coast, Africa, but readily separated by the less abundant and sparse cephalic pilosity, the smaller eyes, the shallow impressed metanotal groove, and obtusely angled propodeal profile. New distributional records are provided for S. kondratieffi which was previously only known from the type locality, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia.