Cataglyphis

Cataglyphis
Cataglyphis bicolor
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Formicini
Genus:	Cataglyphis Förster, 1850
Species
C. bicolor C. hannae C. bombycinus   many more, see text
Diversity
c. 65 species

Cataglyphis is a genus of ant in the subfamily Formicinae. Its most famous species is C. bicolor, the Sahara Desert ant, which runs on hot sand to find insects that died of heat exhaustion, and can sustain body temperatures of up to 50°C.

Description

Species of this genus are generally morphologically and physiologically adapted to dry and hot habitats.

Distribution

At least five different species of Cataglyphis occur in the Sahara desert, which may be considered the center of distribution for this genus. Some species reach into southern Russia, the European part of Turkey, the Aral-Caspian area near Tijanchan, Yugoslavia and Hungary.

Species

Cataglyphis abyssinicus (Forel, 1904) Cataglyphis adenensis (Forel, 1904) Cataglyphis aenescens (Nylander, 1849) Cataglyphis albicans (Roger, 1859) Cataglyphis alibabae Pisarski, 1965 Cataglyphis altisquamis (Andre, 1881) Cataglyphis argentatus (Radoszkowsky, 1876) Cataglyphis asiriensis Collingwood, 1985 Cataglyphis bicolor (Fabricius, 1793) — Sahara Desert ant Cataglyphis bicoloripes Walker, 1871 Cataglyphis bombycinus (Roger, 1859) — Sahara desert Cataglyphis cana Santschi, 1925 Cataglyphis cinnamomeus (Karavaiev, 1910) Cataglyphis constrictus (Mayr, 1868) Cataglyphis cugiai Menozzi, 1939 Cataglyphis cursor (Fonscolombe, 1846) Cataglyphis diehlii (Forel, 1902) Cataglyphis elegantissimus Arnol'di, 1968 Cataglyphis emeryi (Karavaiev, 1910) Cataglyphis emmae (Forel, 1909) Cataglyphis floricola Tinaut, 1993 Cataglyphis foreli (Ruzsky, 1903) Cataglyphis fortis (Forel, 1902) — Sahara desert Cataglyphis frigidus (Andre, 1881) Cataglyphis gaetulus Santschi, 1929 Cataglyphis gracilens Santschi, 1929 Cataglyphis hannae Agosti, 1994 — Tunisia Cataglyphis hellenicus (Forel, 1886) Cataglyphis hispanicus (Emery, 1906) Cataglyphis humeya Tinaut, 1991 Cataglyphis ibericus (Emery, 1906) Cataglyphis indicus Pisarski, 1961

Cataglyphis isis (Forel, 1913) Cataglyphis italicus (Emery, 1906) Cataglyphis karakalensis Arnol'di, 1964 Cataglyphis kurdistanicus Pisarski, 1965 Cataglyphis laevior Santschi, 1929 Cataglyphis lividus (Andre, 1881) Cataglyphis longipedem (Eichwald, 1841) Cataglyphis lucasi (Emery, 1898) Cataglyphis lunaticus Baroni Urbani, 1969 Cataglyphis machmal Radchenko & Arakelian, 1991 Cataglyphis mauritanicus (Emery, 1906) — Sahara desert Cataglyphis minimus Collingwood, 1985 Cataglyphis niger (Andre, 1881) Cataglyphis nigripes Arnol'di, 1964 Cataglyphis nodus (Brulle, 1832) — Dalmatia Cataglyphis otini Santschi, 1929 Cataglyphis oxianus Arnol'di, 1964 Cataglyphis pallidus Mayr, 1877 Cataglyphis piliger Arnol'di, 1964 Cataglyphis piliscapus (Forel, 1901) Cataglyphis rosenhaueri Santschi, 1925 Cataglyphis ruber (Forel, 1903) Cataglyphis sabulosus Kugler, 1981 Cataglyphis saharae Santschi, 1929 Cataglyphis savignyi (Dufour, 1862) — Sahara desert Cataglyphis semitonsus Santschi, 1929 Cataglyphis setipes (Forel, 1894) Cataglyphis takyrica Dlussky, 1990 Cataglyphis theryi Santschi, 1921 Cataglyphis urens Collingwood, 1985 Cataglyphis velox Santschi, 1929 Cataglyphis viaticoides (Andre, 1881) Cataglyphis viaticus (Fabricius, 1787)

References

• Bernard, F. (1968): Les fourmis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) d'Europe occidentale et septentrionale.
• Petrov, I.Z. (1986): Distribution of species of the genus Cataglyphis Foerster, 1850 (Formicidae, Hymenoptera) in Yugoslavia. Arh. biol. nauka 38: 11-12. PDF
• ITIS: Cataglyphis species list

Further reading

• Heusser, Daniel & Wehner, Rüdiger (2002): The visual centring response in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis. The Journal of Experimental Biology 205: 585-590. Full HTML - PDF

External links

• YouTube: Video of Cataglyphis catching prey in the Sahara desert