Cataglyphis nodus

Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) found this species in Iran on parkland ground in a moderate rainfall area.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: United Arab Emirates. Palaearctic Region: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

Nomenclature

 *  nodus. Formica nodus Brullé, 1833: 326, pl. 48, fig. 1 (w.) GREECE. Combination in Cataglyphis: Mayr, 1861: 44. Junior synonym of viatica: Roger, 1861b: 163; Dalla Torre, 1893: 218. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of bicolor: Emery, 1925b: 265. Subspecies of bicolor: Menozzi, 1927e: 119; Santschi, 1929b: 47; Menozzi, 1936d: 305; Bernard, 1948: 162. Raised to species: Arnol'di, 1964: 1802; Pisarski, 1965: 421. Junior synonym of bicolor: Wehner, Harkness & Schmid-Hempel, 1983: 7. Revived from synonymy: Collingwood, 1985: 290; Agosti, 1990b: 1489; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 291. Senior synonym of orientalis: Emery, 1925b: 265; Finzi, 1928c: 791; of caucasicola, mesasiatica: Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990: 153; of nodus: Borowiec & Salata, 2013: 383. [Misspelled as nuda: Santschi, 1933b: 108.]
 * orientalis. Myrmecocystus viaticus var. orientalis Forel, 1895d: 228 (w.) TURKEY. Combination in Cataglyphis: Emery, 1912f: 99. Junior synonym of setipes: Ruzsky, 1905b: 430. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of viatica: Forel, 1910a: 24. Subspecies of bicolor: Santschi, 1921a: 116. Junior synonym of noda: Emery, 1925b: 265; Finzi, 1928c: 791.
 * caucasicola. Cataglyphis nodus subsp. caucasicola Arnol'di, 1964: 1803, figs. 1, 2 (w.m.) GEORGIA. Junior synonym of noda: Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990: 153.
 * mesasiatica. Cataglyphis nodus subsp. mesasiatica Arnol'di, 1964: 1803, figs. 1, 3 (w.m.) UZBEKISTAN. Junior synonym of noda: Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990: 153.
 * rufiventris. Cataglyphis bicolor var. rufiventris Emery, 1925b: 265 (w.) GREECE. [First available use of Myrmecocystus (Cataglyphis) viaticus subsp. orientalis var. rufiventris Forel, 1911d: 353; unavailable name.] Junior synonym of nodus: Borowiec & Salata, 2013: 383.

Taxonomic Notes
Khalili-Moghadam et al. (2019) - The Iranian samples are generally darker in colour than the typical populations from the Balkans. Unfortunately, the material from Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province contained only workers, so we were unable to compare the male genitalia of the Iranian and Balkan populations. We do not know, therefore, whether these darker populations represent a separate morphotype or even a separate species.

Eyer et al. (2017) suggested that there is no true C. nodus in Israel, only its hybrids with other local species thus status of Jordanian populations needs conformation by genetic studies (Borowiec & Salata, 2020).