A preliminary checklist of the ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) fauna of Senegal

Lamine Diamé (1) , Brian Taylor (2) , Rumsais Blatrix (3) , Jean-François Vayssières (4) , Jean-Yves Rey (4) , Isabelle Grechi (4) , Karamoko Diarra (5)

1 ISRA - Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles [Dakar]
2 School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Department of Oceanography
3 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
4 UPR HORTSYS - Fonctionnement agroécologique et performances des systèmes de cultures horticoles
5 UCAD - Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar [Sénégal]

This work presents the first checklist of the ant species of Senegal, based on a review of the literature and on recent thorough sampling in Senegalese orchard agrosystems during rainy and dry seasons. Eighty-nine species belonging to 31 genera and 9 subfamilies of Formicidae are known. The most speciose genera were Monomorium Mayr, 1855, and Camponotus Mayr, 1861, with 13 and 12 species, respectively. The fresh collection yielded 31 species recorded for the first time in Senegal, including two undescribed species. The composition of the ant fauna reflects the fact that Senegal is in intermediate ecozone between North Africa and sub-Saharan areas, with some species previously known only from distant locations, such as Sudan.

Mots clés: sub-Saharan country; new records; checklist; Ants; Senegal

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie; Systématique, phylogénie et taxonomie

Lamine Diamé, Brian Taylor, Rumsais Blatrix, Jean-François Vayssières, Jean-Yves Rey, et al.. A preliminary checklist of the ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) fauna of Senegal. Journal of Insect Biodiversity, 2017, 5 (15), pp.1-16. ⟨10.12976/jib/2017.5.15⟩. ⟨hal-02315944⟩