The Ants of Egypt SUBFAMILY FORMICINAE - Genus Cataglyphis

Genus Cataglyphis Foerster (1850b: 493)

In Tribe FORMICINI, previously in Tribe PRENOLEPIDINI. Reviewed down to the species-group level by Agosti (1990: 457).

Diagnostic Features - Legs very long. Antennae 12-segmented and inserted very close to the posterior margin of the clypeus. Eyes and ocelli present, the eyes set behind the mid-length of the head. Mandibles strongly dentate. Psammophore on the anterior ventral surface of the head. Metapleuron with a distinct wide orifice for the metapleural gland; the orifice protected by a line or tuft of guard hairs. Propodeal spiracle an elongate vertical or near-vertical ellipse. Petiole nodiform or squamiform node. Acidopore borne on a conical projection of the hypopigium and surrounded by a fringe of hair.

Foerster's (1850b) genus definition (of the male) is at . Mayr's (1855: 381) definition of Monocombus (synonymised with cataglyphis by Mayr, 1861: 44) is at . Agosti's (1990) review is at .

Key to workers - based on Emery (1906b), Agosti (1990a) and Collingwood & Agosti (1996, Saudi Arabia key)

1	Petiole high and squamiform; mandible with six or more teeth, maxillary palp with segments 3 & 4 very long, laterally with a fringe of long hairs; whole of body or at least alitrunk covered with golden or silvery pubescence; gaster also with golden pubescence	bombycinus-group - 2
--	Petiole nodiform domed to narrow conical	3
.	bombycinus-group	.
2	Dimorphic, soldier TL 15 mm, minors TL 5.5-8.0 mm, soldier with falciform mandibles, with a cleft posterior to the apical tooth; erect hairs on maxillary palp segment 3 at least as long as half the segment; gaster brown (separation according to Kugler, 1981)	Libya east to Egypt - bombycinus
minor
--	Workers only with variable size but no soldier; erect hairs on maxillary palp segment 3 between one-third and half as long as the segment; gaster never more than light brown	southern Israel & northern Sinai - sabulosus
--	TL 3.5-4.5 mm; mandible with five teeth, sometimes with extra denticles; if falcate then denticles always indicated; gaster with sparse pubescence; body chestnut-brown or yellow, borders of gaster brownish, shining - the pallidus type location is Turkestan and the single Egypt record seems more likely to be sabulosus or the minor of bombycinus.	pallidus-group - pallidus
--	Workers only with variable size but no known soldier; propodeum with domed prfile; gaster dark brown under whitish pubescence	southern Israel & northern Sinai - sinaiticus
.	Petiole nodiform	.
3	Gaster not raised in locomotion; large eyes (EI, eye length x 100/head wdth > 35); petiole with narrow profile - no Egypt records, included for comparison; TL to 8 mm	altisquamis-group - mauritanicus complex - mauritanicus
--	Gaster raised in locomotion; smaller eyes (EI < 35)	4
4	Petiole with anterior face and dorsum meeting at an angle; TL rarely reaches 9 mm	albicans-group - 5
--	Petiole wholly domed; TL of majors more than 9 mm	bicolor-group - 10
.	albicans-group, albicans complex and lividus complex	.
5	Gaster at least black; remainder red or black	albicans complex - albicans, ruber, minimus - 6
--	Unicolourous, wholly yellow	lividus complex - lividus, argentatus - 9
6	Bicoloured, with head and alitrunk either red-orange, or yellowish-orange, with the gaster black	7
--	Entirely black and shiny	8
7	TL 4.8-7.0 mm; head finely sculptured, shagreened, so that only wekly shiny; head in full face view with smoothly convex occiput; clypeus with evenly arcuate anterior margin, and a median carina; petiole profile narrowly domed; head, alitrunk and petiole red to orange red, gaster black; without silky pubescence; gaster shagreened, shiny; mandibles longer and more strongly crossed; generally more slender; very active and aggressive	ruber
--	TL (monomorphic, or minor only known) 5.5-6 mm; head smooth and shiny; head in full face view with weakly convex convex occiput; petiole profile angular; gaster shiny black	franchettii- new status
8	TL 3.75-8.0 mm; uniform shiny black (? piceous-brown) - HW of largest worker > 2 mm, scape shorter than HW; petiole node with flat slope height to length 4.5 : 4; head sculptured Egypt specimens with a major apparently with a much lighter head than the type description	.
.	Minor	albicans
--	TL major 4.4 mm; minor 3.62 mm; entirely black, appendages yellow	minimus
9	Unicolourous, wholly yellow rust, gaster clear yellow; head sculptured matt or submatt	lividus
--	TL 5 mm; pale rufous or ferruginous, with the upper surface of the head, pedicel, femora and gaster densely covered with short, decumbent whitish hairs, silky, with a silvery reflection; head large; antennae inserted at the border of the clypeus; which is triangular with a median carina; the mandibles strong, flattened with five teeth; ocelli feebly indicated; propodeum weakly narrowed and dorsally concave; petiole scale narrow and rounded; legs strong; gaster rounded almost spherical.	argentatus
.	bicolor-group	.
¤	Queen only known	bicoloripes
10	Petiole distinctly longer than wide	11
--	Petiole relatively short	14
11	TL 7.0-9.5 mm; overall smaller and most of head and body somewhat shinier, with reduced sculpturation; gaster by contrast is less shiny than bicolor with a heavier sculpture that matches the rest of the body; not known from Egypt	abyssinicus complex - abyssinicus
--	Relatively low profile to the petiole, lower than long ; unicolorous, very dark red to black	niger complex - holgerseni, niger and savignyi - 12
.	niger complex	.
11	Propodeum high, relatively massive with dorsum and declivity junction a rounded right angle; no TL given; apparently with a somewhat purplish tinge	holgerseni
--	Propodeum dorsum and declivity junction smoothly rounded	13
13	Entirely black with the gaster matt as with the rest of the body, TL between 5.0 and 12 mm; mandibles with pronounced striations	niger
--	Bicoloured, head and alitrunk dark rust, gaster very dark red, rather than black; coxae, trochanters, femora and tibiae black; matt; TL 8.5 mm	savignyi
.	Petiole relatively short	.
14	Petiole node with angular summit	15
--	Petiole node smoothly domed	17
15	Petiole high and angular; TL 9-13 mm; head noticeably longer than wide; clypeus with a straight median anterior margin and no carina; head & alitrunk dull orange; gaster opaque, black; yellow erect hairs on the occiput and white pubescence on the hind tibiae; probably not present in Egypt	viaticus-group - viaticus
--	Petiole a low node with an relatively narrow summit and a straight anterior face	setipes complex - 16
16	Red a little darker than the type bicolor (although less so than desertorum), appendages as the body; gaster matt black; occipitum, lower head and gaster and legs somewhat shiny; sides of thorax and femora pubescent; lower head, thorax and gaster pilous; upper body glabrous - not known from Egypt but possible in southern Egypt/Sahel area?	congolensis
--	Quite brightly coloured species with the somber red head and alitrunk contrasting with the brilliant unsculptured dark gaster; workers with short funiculus segments (as in diehlii) and a high short petiole node	laevior - new complex allocation
--	TL 6-9 mm; clypeus distinctly carinate; long hind legs (hind femur 1.72 x alitrunk length); head and body relatively dark red-brown, gaster black	for comparison (from Tunisia) - fortis
--	details to be added but clypeus without a carina; hind femur near = to alitrunk length	agostii
.	Petiole relatively short and smoothly domed	.
17	Petiole node a forward titled dome; generally dark, with gaster black or nearly	diehlii complex - adenensis, diehlii and isis - 18
--	Petiole node not angled forward	19
.	diehlii complex	.
18	Gaster dark contrasting with red head; HL approx = HW; petiole dorsum mildly flattened; petiole squamiform	adenensis
--	Head and alitrunk finely sculptured and somewhat opaque, gaster smooth and shiny; weakly polymorphic, TL range 5.0-9.2 mm; majors with relatively small heads (cf viaticus & bicolor); propodeum amd petiole scale with greyish pubescence; entirely black except sometimes majors with slightly red heads.	diehlii
--	Gaster mildly sculptured and dull; scape with occasional erect hairs; body evenly dark, mandibles reddish; differs from diehlii in having a strongly pubescent alitrunk and occasional erect hairs on the scapes. TL not exceeding 9.5 mm.	isis
.	Petiole node not angled forward	.
19	Petiole node lowest dome of group, relatively square; TL 5.0-12.7 mm; fine close short pubescence on the tibiae and tarsi; no erect hairs on the scapes; colour always clear red, darker on the largest workers, gaster black; the sole identification from Egypt seems likely to have been wrong	nodus complex - nodus
--	Bicoloured workers which have appressed white to yellow pubescence on the hind tibiae; petiole as high as long.	bicolor complex - bicolor and desertorum -
.	bicolor complex	.
20	Type (Santschi, 1929b) pronotum with very weak pubescence, quite abundant on sides of propodeum and legs; major worker with legs red as with the body, brownish in smaller workers; (Wehner et al, 1994) black erect hairs on the occiput and black pubescence on the hind tibiae	bicolor
--	More robust with relatively short legs; petiole perhaps a little higher; propodeum not domed in profile; matt except for occipitum; very dark red, scape darker than rest of head, appendages brown red; tarsi with dense black setae and coarse black pubescence (decumbent setae)	desertorum new status

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