Cataglyphis nigra

Cataglyphis nigra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Formicini
Genus:	Cataglyphis
Species group:	bicolor
Species:	C. nigra
Binomial name
Cataglyphis nigra (André, 1881) Specimen Labels

This species is common at Rawdhat Khorim, Saudi Arabia, with peak abundance in June and decreasing during cooler months. Workers were collected from the following plants: Acacia gerrardii Benth (Fabaceae), Calotropis procera (Aiton) W. T. Aiton (Apocynaceae), Rhazya stricta Decne (Apocynaceae) and Ziziphus nummularia (Burm. f) Wight & Arn. (Rhamnaceae) (Sharaf et al., 2013). Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) found this species in Iran in areas with moderate to very low rainfall.

At a Glance

• Polygynous  • Supercolonies

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Cataglyphis species of Asia

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 37.934167° to 13.566667°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.
Palaearctic Region: Iran, Israel (type locality), Jordan, Kuwait, Oman.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

This species was originally described from Israel and recorded from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Yemen (Collingwood, 1985; Collingwood and Agosti, 1996), UAE (Collingwood et al. 2011) and Syria (Santschi, 1929b) (Sharaf et al., 2013).

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• nigra. Myrmecocystus viaticus var. niger André, 1881b: 56 (w.) ISRAEL.
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Israel: Jaffa (= Tel Aviv-Yafo) (Abeille de Perrin).
  • Type-depository: MNHN.
  • Forel, 1913d: 434 (q.).
  • Combination in M. (Cataglyphis): Forel, 1913d: 434;
  • combination in Cataglyphis: Emery, 1925b: 265;
  • combination in C. (Cataglyphis): Santschi, 1929b: 50.
  • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1906d: 58; Forel, 1908a: 14; Emery, 1908g: 217; Wheeler, W.M. & Mann, 1916: 173.
  • Subspecies of viatica: André, 1882b: 167 (in key); Emery, 1891b: 16; Dalla Torre, 1893: 219; Emery, 1898c: 126; Forel, 1903c: 267; Forel, 1904b: 382; Forel, 1910a: 13; Forel, 1911h: 458; Forel, 1913d: 434; Tinaut, 1991: 216.
  • Subspecies of bicolor: Forel, 1908a: 15; Emery, 1924a: 9; Emery, 1925b: 265; Menozzi, 1927f: 380; Menozzi, 1927g: 380; Santschi, 1929b: 50; Menozzi, 1929e: 128; Finzi, 1930c: 24; Menozzi, 1933b: 86; Menozzi, 1934: 166; Santschi, 1934d: 282; Finzi, 1936: 193.
  • Status as species: Collingwood, 1985: 290; Kugler, J. 1988: 259; Agosti, 1990b: 1489; Bolton, 1995b: 136; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 381; Radchenko, 1997c: 432; Radchenko, 1998: 505 (in key); Mohamed, Zalat, et al. 2001: 45; Paknia, et al. 2008: 154; Vonshak, et al. 2009: 39; Collingwood, et al. 2011: 458; Sharaf, Abdel-Dayem, et al. 2013: 572; Borowiec, L. 2014: 58; Ionescu & Eyer, 2016: 123; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2020: 5; Sharaf, Abdel-Dayem, et al. 2020: 542.
  • Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

Taxonomic Notes

The taxonomic status of the Jordanian populations of Cataglyphis nigra are uncertain due to the complex genetic structure of members of the Cataglyphis bicolor group (Eyer et al. 2017; Borowiec & Salata, 2020).

References

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• Jacobs, S. 2020. Population genetic and behavioral aspects of male mating monopolies in Cardiocondyla venustula (Ph.D. thesis).
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• Sharaf, M. R.; Abdel-Dayem, M. S.; Al Dhafer, H. M.; Aldawood, S. A. 2013. The ants (Hymenoptera:formicidae) of Rawdhat Khorim Nature Preserve, Saudi Arabia, with description of a new species of the genus Tetramorium Mayr. Zootaxa 3709:565-580.
• Sharaf, M.R., Abdel-Dayem, M.S., Mohamed, A.A., Fisher, B.L., Aldawood, A.S. 2020. A preliminary synopsis of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Qatar with remarks on the zoogeography. Annales Zoologici 70: 533-560 (doi:10.3161/00034541anz2020.70.4.005).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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