Cataglyphis

Amor and Ortega (2014) - Species of the genus Cataglyphis are among the most conspicuous and characteristic ants of arid and semiarid zones of the Palearctic, which span from Mauritania to the Gobi Desert. They are relatively easy to find because they preferentially occupy open habitats and their workers are large. Various species have drawn the attention of researchers as a result of their diverse and original reproductive strategies (Pearcy et al. 2004, Amor et al. 2011, Leniaud et al. 2012, Peeters and Aron 2017) and their extraordinary adaptations to hot environments, including landmark navigation and foraging activity regulation (Wehner et al. 2006, Collett and Collet 2009, Wehner 2009, Amor et al. 2011b, Mangan and Webb 2012; see Lenoir et al. 2009 as well as Boulay et al. 2017 for reviews of the genus Cataglyphis).

Species Groups
Agosti (1990) identifies nine species groups.
 * Cataglyphis albicans species group
 * Cataglyphis altisquamis species group
 * Cataglyphis bicolor species group
 * Cataglyphis bombycinus species group
 * Cataglyphis cursor species group
 * Cataglyphis emmae species group
 * Cataglyphis nigripes species group
 * Cataglyphis pallidus species group
 * Cataglyphis urens species group

These species groups were revisited using molecular markers by Aron et al. 2016

Biology
Villalta et al. (2018) examined the phylogeography of Cataglyphis albicans group species in the western Mediterranean basin. Their analysis of the evolutionary history of this group is well informed by a large number of sampled specimens and produced interesting results about the possible timing and modes of speciation within this group.

Castes
Workers are remarkably polymorphic in body size (e.g. Cataglyphis savignyi), although the extent of this variability is species-specific (e.g. Cerda & Retana 1997).

Ergatoid (permanently wingless) queens as well as brachypterous (short-winged) queens are known in multiple unrelated species (Peeters & Aron 2017). Brachypterous queens (e.g. Cataglyphis cretica, Cataglyphis hispanica, Cataglyphis mauritanica, Cataglyphis piliscapa, Cataglyphis velox) shed their non-functional wings soon after eclosion, and their thorax morphology gives the mistaken impression that they are able to fly. However thorax dissections reveal the lack of wing muscles. In Cataglyphis tartessica, ergatoid queens coexist with brachypterous queens (Amor et al. 2011).

Nomenclature

 *  CATAGLYPHIS [Formicinae: Formicini]
 * Cataglyphis Foerster, 1850b: 493. Type-species: Cataglyphis fairmairei (junior synonym of Formica bicolor), by monotypy.
 * Cataglyphis senior synonym of Myrmecocystus: Roger, 1863b: 12; Mayr, 1863: 402.
 * Cataglyphis junior synonym of Myrmecocystus: Forel, 1878: 372; Forel, 1886f: 201; Mayr, 1886d: 424; Karavaiev, 1924: 301.
 * Cataglyphis subgenus of Myrmecocystus: Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 144.
 * Cataglyphis revived from synonymy: Wheeler, W.M. 1913a: 78; Emery, 1925b: 261.
 * Cataglyphis senior synonym of Monocombus: Mayr, 1861: 44; Agosti, 1990b: 1462.
 * Cataglyphis senior synonym of Machaeromyrma: Baroni Urbani, 1969d: 218; Agosti, 1990b: 1462.
 * Cataglyphis senior synonym of Eomonocombus, Paraformica: Agosti, 1990b: 1462.
 * EOMONOCOMBUS [junior synonym of Cataglyphis]
 * Eomonocombus Arnol'di, 1968: 1815 [as subgenus of Cataglyphis]. Type-species: Myrmecocystus cinnamomeus, by original designation.
 * Eomonocombus junior synonym of Cataglyphis: Agosti, 1990b: 1462; Agosti, 1994a: 103.
 * MACHAEROMYRMA [junior synonym of Cataglyphis]
 * Machaeromyrma Forel, 1916: 441 [as subgenus of Cataglyphis]. Type-species: Formica bombycina, by original designation.
 * Machaeromyrma junior synonym of Cataglyphis: Baroni Urbani, 1969d: 218; Agosti, 1994a: 103.
 * MONOCOMBUS [junior synonym of Cataglyphis]
 * Monocombus Mayr, 1855: 381. Type-species: Formica viatica, by monotypy.
 * Monocombus subgenus of Cataglyphis: Santschi, 1929b: 29.
 * Monocombus junior synonym of Myrmecocystus: Forel, 1878: 372; André, 1882b: 165; Mayr, 1886d: 424; Dalla Torre, 1893: 216.
 * Monocombus junior synonym of Cataglyphis: Mayr, 1861: 44; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 944; Emery, 1925b: 261; Agosti, 1990b: 1462; Agosti, 1994a: 103.
 * PARAFORMICA [junior synonym of Cataglyphis]
 * Paraformica Forel, 1915b: 95 (footnote) [as subgenus of Formica]. Type-species: Formica (Paraformica) emmae, by monotypy.
 * Paraformica raised to genus: Emery, 1925b: 260.
 * Paraformica subgenus of Proformica: Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1928a: 7.
 * Paraformica subgenus of Cataglyphis: Santschi, 1925g: 353; Santschi, 1929b: 30.
 * Paraformica junior synonym of Cataglyphis: Agosti, 1990b: 1462; Agosti, 1994a: 103.