Cataglyphis franchettii Menozzi - new status

Type location Ethiopia (Cataglyphis albicans ssp franchettii n ssp, Menozzi, 1931a: 155, illustrated, holotype worker only) collected at an unspecified location in the Danakil Depression by Baron Raimondo Franchetti 

Menozzi's (1931a) description is at .

WORKER - Menozzi (1931a) - TL 5.8 mm; head as wide as long with the sides near straight; alitrunk somewhat elongated and slender (as albicans); petiole scale quite low, obliquely truncate, with the anterior dorsal face longer than the posterior face and forming an rounded angle at the apex; with whitish pubescence quite sparse on the head and alitrunk; a few erect hairs on the vertex and the clypeus; head sub-opaque, finely punctate, promesonotum similar, propodeum slightly more distinctly punctate, with some short striations; gaster microscopically transversely striate and shiny; colour reddish-yellow, similar to rubra but with the dorsum of the petiole scale, coxae and gaster black, except for part of the first gaster segment being reddish; femora brownish; antennae, tibia & tarsi ferruginous.

The photomontage of the type worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0905864. Image seemingly darker than the Menozzi description.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Cataglyphis franchettii B Taylor det.	Egypt M James	2002 Sinai 28°33' N 33°56' E	St Katherine protectorate around the town of St Katherine, in mountains above 1500m ground dwelling & foraging; collected at 2050 m, using sugar and cheese bait	2
Cataglyphis franchettii B Taylor det.	Egypt O Norfolk 02	2010 Sinai 28°33' N 33°56' E	St Katherine’s Protectorate Pitfall trap in wadi garden	2

The photomontage is of workers from Egypt, Sinai Desert, St Katherine protectorate around the town of St Katherine, in mountains above 1500m; collected at 2050 m by Mike James, using sugar and cheese bait, except # 21, found under a rock. General location . Mike James noted that foraging is early morning and evening, taking food items back to nests under plants or rocks.

Apart from being somewhat shinier than Menozzi describes, this matches the description of franchettii; notably the angular petiole, the elongated alitrunk, the striations on the propodeum, and, the shape of the head. Interestingly, Franchetti only found a single worker of the same dimensions, etc, as the James collection, so, perhaps, there is only the single small morph (reportedly a characteristic of the albicans-group).

The photomontage is of worker from Egypt, Sinai Desert, St Katherine protectorate; collected by Olivia Norfolk (ON 2).