Cataglyphis savignyi (Dufour)

Type location Egypt (Formica savignyi, Dufour, 1862: 141, worker & male; in Cataglyphis Roger 1863b: 12; confirmed status Billen, 1989: 301; Agosti 1990a: 1490) - see below.

Dufour's (1862) description is at , with the worker as Fig 2 and the male as Fig 1 from the Savignyi Plate 20. Santschi (1929b) gave a fresh description (as Cataglyphis bicolor F. stirps nodus v. savignyi Dufour) this is at .

Agosti (1990a: 1490) appears to have decided upon only the male, belonging to the bicolor species-group, as being known under this name, worker specimens (from Gizeh) labelled as the species belong to the alitisquamis species-group.

Egypt records - illustrated by Savigny (Audouin, J.-V. 1825-27: Plate 20 Fig 2) and referred to by Dufour (1862). Note - according to Agosti (1990a: 1490) the surviving workers in the Dufour collection, in Paris, are of a Cataglyphis species within the mauritanicus complex of the altisquamis species-group.

Santschi (1929b) noted a specimen in Paris collected near the pyramids by Alluaud, the same location as Savigny's; Finzi (1936: 192) reported several findings from northern Egypt - Alexandria, Cairo, Heliopolis, etc. Billen (1989) studied workers collected near their nest entrance at the base of fence walls surrounding the Faculty of Science buildings at El Minya University, Egypt. He described it as a desert ant which is active only during the heat of the day.

Sharaf list - Port Said, 26.viii.2003 (4); Salhyia, 17.iii.2002 (1); Elqasmia (Belbis), 21.ii.2003 (2); Nagh El-Ghalalab (Aswan), 7.iii.2003 (12); Saloga Island (Aswan), 2.v.2002 (1); El-Sabah Emarat, 50 km Ismailia-Cairo, 14.iii.2002 (1); Sallant (Daqahliya, Egypt), 28.iii.2003 (3); Nagh El-Ghalalab (Aswan), 8.iii.2003 (1); Hatshibsut temple (Luxor), 4.iii.2003 (4); Khniza (Nubaria), 21.ix.2002 (1); Wadi El-Rayan (Faiyum), 7.xi.2001 (2) (SHC).

The photomontage of a worker from the Dufour collection is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0915501
This poses something of a puzzle. The petiole and propodeum profile is not that of savignyi as usually accepted, indeed, described by Dufour - who had petiole characteristic and subglobose "gibbiforme" (humped). The size, however, is not that of the largest worker, i.e. TL only ca 10.5mm, and thus it may be a media worker.

The photomontage of a worker from the Santschi collection is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=0249854

Oxford University Museum specimens

Cataglyphis savignyi B Taylor det.	Egypt M Sharaf	26.viii.2003 Port Said 31°16' N 32°18' E	elev 42 m asl; foraging singly during the day	6
Cataglyphis savignyi B Taylor det.	Senegal Lamine Diamé 70	2012 Thiés 14°45'N 17°03'W	Sindia Ensa (S. saiche)	1

The photomontage is of a worker from Port Said, E 32°18' N 31°16'; 26.viii.2003; collector Mostafa Sharaf.

Wehner, Wehner & Agosti (1994) established that savignyi inhabits primarily dry sandy areas; variably alongside bicolor, with the latter being predominant in agricultural soils.

See also Billen, J. 1989. Morphology of the cloacal gland in the ant Cataglyphis savignyi. Actes des Colloques Insectes Sociaux 5: 301-306.

The photomontage is of a worker from Senegal, Thiés; collector Lamine Diamé (70).