Cataglyphis viatica

Cataglyphis viatica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Formicini
Genus:	Cataglyphis
Species:	C. viatica
Binomial name
Cataglyphis viatica (Fabricius, 1787) Specimen labels
Synonyms
Formica cephalotes europaea Christ, 1791

Distribution

Records from Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey are based probably on misinterpretation of species within the Cataglyphis bicolor-viatica complex and concern Cataglyphis nodus (Borowiec, 2014).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 44.033333° to 15.116667°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan.
Palaearctic Region: Algeria, Egypt, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia.

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.

Biology

Field observations by Serge Aron (Morocco, May 2019) - Dealate queens were running on the ground. One queen retrieved food to a hole in the ground. Another two queens were fighting outside an entrance hole after which one ran away, but returned soon after and attempted to enter again. These behaviours, together with the existence of wing muscles (see thorax dissection), suggest that queens mate outside their natal nest ('female calling'), disperse by flight, shed their wings and attempt non-claustral ICF (Peeters & Aron 2017).

Association with Other Organisms

 Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

• This species is a host for the dermestid beetle Thorictus buigasi (a myrmecophile) in Morocco (Hava et al., 2012).
• This species is a host for the eucharitid wasp Eucharis bedeli (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (multiple encounter modes; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

Castes

Wing muscles inside the thorax of the flying queen in Cataglyphis viatica. Dissection by Christian Peeters, photograph by Adam Khalife.

Nomenclature

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

• viatica. Formica viatica Fabricius, 1787: 308 (w.) SPAIN (“Habitat in Hispaniae”).
  • Mayr, 1861: 45 (q.m.).
  • Combination in Monocombus: Mayr, 1855: 382;
  • combination in Myrmecocystus: Emery & Forel, 1879: 449; Ruzsky, 1905b: 427;
  • combination in Myrmecocystus (Cataglyphis): Forel, 1911d: 353;
  • combination in Cataglyphis: Mayr, 1861: 45 (in key); Roger, 1863b: 12; Mayr, 1880: 28; Emery, 1912f: 98; Santschi, 1919e: 246;
  • combination in C. (Monocombus): Santschi, 1929b: 29.
  • Status as species: Gmelin, 1790: 2798; Olivier, 1792: 495; Fabricius, 1793: 356; Latreille, 1802c: 173; Fabricius, 1804: 404; Schenck, 1852: 129; Mayr, 1855: 382 (redescription); Nylander, 1856b: 59; Smith, F. 1858b: 9; Roger, 1859: 231; Mayr, 1861: 45 (in key); Smith, F. 1861a: 32; Mayr, 1862: 701; Mayr, 1863: 402; Roger, 1863b: 12; Walker, 1871: 10; Dours, 1873: 166; André, 1874: 181 (in key); Radoszkowsky, 1876: 140; Mayr, 1877: 8; Emery, 1877b: 366; Emery, 1878a: ix (in list); Emery, 1878b: 48; Emery & Forel, 1879: 449; Mayr, 1880: 28; Emery, 1880: 389; Emery, 1881b: 527; André, 1881b: 56; André, 1882b: 167 (in key); André, 1884b: 537; Emery, 1884a: 376; Forel, 1886d: 243; Forel, 1886e: clxvii; Emery, 1887a: 247; Forel, 1889: 256; Nasonov, 1889: 14; Rothney, 1889: 350; Forel, 1890a: lxvii; Saunders, E. 1890: 202; Emery, 1891b: 16; Mayr, 1893: 197; Dalla Torre, 1893: 218; Medina, 1893: 104; Forel, 1895d: 228; Mayr, 1904b: 10; Ruzsky, 1905b: 427; Emery, 1906d: 57; Forel, 1909c: 105; Santschi, 1919e: 246; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 944; Menozzi, 1922b: 332; Soudek, 1922: 85; Müller, 1923b: 148 (in key); Emery, 1925b: 266; Santschi, 1925g: 356; Santschi, 1929b: 58 (in key); Santschi, 1931a: 13; Santschi, 1932c: 73; Finzi, 1939a: 166; Novák & Sadil, 1941: 108 (in key); Ceballos, 1956: 317; Cagniant, 1964: 93; Cagniant, 1968a: 145; Collingwood & Yarrow, 1969: 85; Cagniant, 1970c: 30; Pisarski, 1975: 53; Collingwood, 1978: 92 (in key); Agosti, 1990b: 1490; Tinaut, 1990c: 50 (redescription); Wehner, et al. 1994: 168; Bolton, 1995b: 137; Cagniant, 2006a: 195; Werner & Wiezik, 2007: 157; Gratiashvili & Barjadze, 2008: 132; Cagniant, 2009: 50; Karaman, M.G. 2011b: 76; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 487; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 10; Borowiec, L. 2014: 61.
  • Senior synonym of europaea: Emery, 1892b: 161; Dalla Torre, 1893: 218; Agosti, 1990b: 1491; Tinaut, 1990c: 50; Bolton, 1995b: 137.
• europaea. Formica cephalotes subsp. europaea Christ, 1791: 511, pl. 60, fig. 9 (w.) Europe (no state data).
  • Junior synonym of viatica: Emery, 1892b: 161; Dalla Torre, 1893: 218; Agosti, 1990b: 1491; Tinaut, 1990c: 50; Bolton, 1995b: 135.
  • [Note: for cephalotes in this combination, see under Atta.]

References

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