Cataglyphis albicans (Forel)

Iran list Egypt list

Type location North Africa (Formica albicans, Roger, 1859: 235, worker ; André, 1882b: 174, male; Forel, 1894d: 11, queen) - no type images on Antweb (July 2014)
junior synonym
armenus (C. albicans armena K. Arn. ssp. n., Arnol'di, 1964: 1808, illustrated, all forms; synonymy Radchenko, 1997e: 425) from Armenia - see below
subspecies
cubicus (Myrmecocystus albicans r. cubicus n. st., Forel, 1903c: 267, worker & queen) from Morocco, Tangier collected by Arthur Müller - see  http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0911103
fezzanensis (Bernard, 1948: 163, all forms) from Algeria - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0913618
kairuanus (Cataglyphis albicans Rog. var. Kairouana n. var., Santschi, 1912c: 149, worker) from Tunisia -  no images on Antweb
mixtus (Myrmecocystus albicans v. mixtus n. v., Forel, 1895d: 229, worker) from Turkey - no images on Antweb
opacus (Cataglyphis albicans Rog. var. opaca n. var., Santschi, 1912c: 149, worker) from Tunisia - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0912175
targuius (Cataglyphis (Cataglyphis) albicans Rog. v. targuia n. var., Santschi, 1929b: 55, footnote, worker; Santschi, 1929c: 106) from Algeria - see  http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0912177 .

Note - we have removed the subspecies franchettii (Menozzi) to the status of full species, with specimens collected at St Katharine's, Sinai, Egypt, by Mike James - see Cataglyphis franchettii.  Collingwood & Agosti (1996) raised Cataglyphis auratus Menozzi  and Cataglyphis vaucheri (Emery) to species. Also separated are the Cataglyphis lividus forms, generally yellowish to red with darkish gasters.

Roger's (1859) description is at . Forel's (1903c) description of cubicus is at . Emery's (1906b: 177) description and illustrated notes on the male is at . Emery's (1906d) description of vaucheri is at . Santschi's (1912c) description of kairouanus is at . Santschi's (1912c) description of targuius and other notes is at . Bernard's (1948) description of fezzanensis and notes is at . Arnol'di's (1964) description of armenus is at .

The distinctive colouration and pubescence strongly suggests armenus should be separated and I have given it a separate page with, along with a fresh worker from Iran - see Cataglyphis albicans armenus.

Forel (1895d) on mixtus had as v. lividus but reddish with the gaster behind and below blackish; larger and the head longer. Emery (1906d) had the worker, TL 6 mm, head 1.6 X 1.7 mm, posterior tibia 2 mm; black with submetallic reflections, appendages brown. Santschi (1912c) wrote of the type form as being from the Algerian Atlas, being black, with the major and minor all with the head entitrely smooth and shiny. His varieties kairouna and opaca had the majors with matt variably longitudinally striate heads.
Writing of specimens collected in Egypt (Sinai) Finzi (1936) described the species as uniformly piceous-brown, appendages reddish-yellow; wholly sublucid (semi-shiny), due to overall fine dense striations; erect hairs sparse on the clypeus, occipitum, propodeum and margins of gaster segments. He noted the specimens were identical to others in his collection from Tunisia. The major shown below appears closer to the Finzi description of colour but conforms to the Santschi drawing as regards alitrunk morphology.

Colour variations:
cubica is yellow-brown, the head and alitrunk concolorous contrasting with a shiny dark brown gaster.
fezzanensis has the same base colour as cubica but the gaster is a distinctive yellow-brown.
opacus is a unicolorous dark brown.
targuia is similar to opacus but with a lighter brown head.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Cataglyphis albicans B Taylor det.	Egypt A Shepherd plant 144	2010 Sinai 28°33' N 33°56' E	St Katherine Protectorate around the town of St Katherine, in mountains above 1500m	1
Cataglyphis albicans B Taylor det.	Egypt A Shepherd mid 366	2010 Sinai 28°33' N 33°56' E	St Katherine’s Protectorate	2
Cataglyphis albicans B Taylor det.	Egypt A Shepherd mid plant 182	2010 Sinai 28°33' N 33°56' E	St Katherine’s Protectorate	1

The photomontages are of workers collected in the Sinai Desert, Egypt, St Katherine Protectorate around the town of St Katherine, in mountains above 1500m, in 2010 by Amy Shepherd, a research student of Francis Gilbert.

These especially the major differ somewhat from the poor description of the type in appearing to be more red. They do appear close to other modern specimens, e.g. https://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0900322, from Morocco.

Minor worker

Minor worker