Cataglyphis franchettii Menozzi - new status

Type location Ethiopia (Cataglyphis albicans ssp. franchettii n. ssp., Menozzi, 1931a: 155, illustrated, holotype worker only) collected at an unspecified location in the Danakil Depression by Baron Raimondo Franchetti.

Menozzi's (1931a) description of franchettii is at .

WORKER - Menozzi (1931a) - TL 5.8 mm; head as wide as long with the sides near straight; alitrunk somewhat elongated and slender (as albicans); petiole scale quite low, obliquely truncate, with the anterior dorsal face longer than the posterior face and forming an rounded angle at the apex; with whitish pubescence quite sparse on the head and alitrunk; a few erect hairs on the vertex and the clypeus; head sub-opaque, finely punctate, promesonotum similar, propodeum slightly more distinctly punctate, with some short striations; gaster microscopically transversely striate and shiny; colour reddish-yellow, similar to rubra but with the dorsum of the petiole scale, coxae and gaster black, except for part of the first gaster segment being reddish; femora brownish; antennae, tibia & tarsi ferruginous.

Sinai mountain species The photomontage is of specimens from 2050 m, collected by Mike James, using sugar and cheese bait, except # 21, and found under a rock. General location Sinai Desert, Egypt, St Katherine protectorate around the town of St Katherine, in mountains above 1500m. Mike James noted that foraging is early morning and evening, taking food items back to nests under plants or rocks. Other images can be seen in the folder at - .

Apart from being somewhat shinier than Menozzi describes, this matches the description of franchettii; notably the angular petiole, the elongated alitrunk, the striations on the propodeum, and, the shape of the head. Interestingly, Franchetti only found a single worker of the same dimensions, etc, as the James collection, so, perhaps, there is only the single small morph (reportedly a characteristic of the albicans-group).

The photomontage is of a worker from Egypt; St Katherine's Protectorate, Sinai, 2010; pitfall trap in a wadi garden; collected by Olivia Norfolk. Other images can be seen in the folder at - .

The photomontage is of specimens from Sudan; collected at Abu Dulayg, 15°53'47.27" N 33°49'41.18" E, 2009, by Zuheir Mahmood. Other images can be seen in the folder at - .