Cataglyphis lividus (André)

Type location Israel (Myrmecocystus albicans var lividus, André, 1881b: 58, worker; Menozzi, 1933b: 84, queen & male; raised to species Arnold'i, 1964: 1810; Pisarski, 1965: 420); subspecies bulgaricus (Atanassov, 1982: 213, illustrated, worker & queen [unavailable]) from Bulgaria, and luteus (Myrmecocystus albicans ssp viaticoides var lutea, Emery, 1906d: 53; Pisarski, 1967: 418, worker) from Iran; unavailable names arabica (Myrmecocystus albicans ssp livida var arabica, Emery, 1906d) from Yemen (Aden); and ambigua (as var of lividus, Santschi, 1929b: 40, worker) from Egypt; all forms known.

André's (1881b) description is brief and compares specimens from Jaffa, Israel, with albicans; but entirely clear testaceous yellow, with the head a little redder and the gaster paler; the colour is like pallidus but the petiole is similar to that of albicans. Emery's (1906d) notes and descriptions of arabica and lutea are at . Forel's (1909e: 384) description of albicans arenarius includes a note on lividus, this is at . Santschi (1929b) gave notes, these are at . In the albicans species-group (Agosti, 1990: 1495).

Note - the description of C. argentatus by Radoszowsky (1876) is short but the general characters, notably the carinate clypeus, weakly concave propodeum and narrow rounded petiole, plus the colouration and short, decumbent silvery hairs, suggests this may be a junior synonym of that species.

Egypt records - Emery (1909e: 384) noted he had specimens of lividus from Egypt (also the André type specimens), and the head was less convex posteriorly than shown in Emery's drawing - the photographed specimen matches Emery's note in that respect. Wheeler & Mann (1916) from Wadi Gharandel, Sinai Peninsula; Menozzi (1929: 128; cited in Finzi, 1936) reported several workers, collected in Sinai, at Wadi Nasib, by F S Bodenheimer. Alfieri (1931: 47) Fayoum Province, El Aalam, 30.x.1925; also Mohamed et al (2001, illustrated) & El-Moursy et al (2001). Santschi (1929b:40) as C. albicans st livida n var ambigua noted 5 type workers from Cairo, Forel; and Cairo & around, Alluaud, 1907. C. ambigua reported by Finzi (1936: 192) from a number of locations including Cairo and Sinai.

Sharaf list - Flosyiat, Zaranik (North Sinai), 11.viii.2000 (33); Ein Sokhna (Suez), 12.ii.1999 (2); N.W.core zone (El-Omaid) (North Sinai) (4) leg.H. El-Hennawy; Zaranik. 5.v.2003 (3); Zaranik, 7.v.2003 (2) (SHC); Sahab (South Sinai), 10.viii.1998 (2) Leg.M.R.Sharaf (ASUC); Faiyum, 9.v.1959 (1) (CUC).

Mohamad thesis (1979) had - Egypt (Det.Crawley,1927) (Coll.Alf.). Fayium, 9.v.1959 (Coll.Car.).

The photomontage is of a specimen is from Egypt, Ein Sokhna, Suez, E x°y' N x°y'; 12.ii.1999, collected by Mostafa Sharaf. Other images can be seen in the folder at -