Cataglyphis arenaria Finzi, 1940

Salata, Sebastian, Kiyani, Haniyeh, Minaei, Kambiz & Borowiec, Lech, 2021, Taxonomic review of the Cataglyphis livida complex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), with a description of a new species from Iran, ZooKeys 1010, pp. 117-131 : 117

Cataglyphis arenaria Finzi, 1940

Cataglyphis (Cataglyphis) albicans var. arenaria Finzi, 1940: 164 [first available use of Myrmecocystus albicans lividus Cataglyphis arenaria Forel, 1909: 384].

Cataglyphis arenaria Status as species: Collingwood and Agosti (1996): 378.

Cataglyphis Syntype worker, Biskra, Algeria (MHNG) [Syntype worker images examined, AntWeb, CASENT0911101, photographs by Alexandra Westrich, available on AntWeb.org].

Diagnosis.

Whole body yellow, only gaster sometimes with indistinctly infuscated apex; mesosoma, posterior part of the head and coxae covered with a layer of silvery hair.

Distribution.

North Africa region, from Mauritania to Jordan. Based on photographs available on AntWeb specimens from Arabian Peninsula probably refer to C. lutea .

Note.

Cataglyphis arenaria was separated from C. livida and C. viaticoides based on the presence of a thick layer of silvery hair on mesosoma and posterior part of the head. Two years after the original description of C. arenaria , Karavaiev (1911) described Myrmecocystus albicans ssp. lividus var. aurata , which was later validated by Menozzi (1932) as trinominal. The latter species also was separated from C. livida based on presence of silvery hair on its body. Probably, Karavaiev was unaware of the existence of C. arenaria during his work on C. aurata . Study of type specimens and descriptions of both C. arenaria and C. aurata did not provide any characters useful in separating these two species. Thus, we conclude that both taxa could be conspecific (see also note in Cataglyphis argentata (Radoszkowsky, 1876) and C. aurata Menozzi, 1932). However, this hypothesis requires verification based on larger material collected from the whole area of their distribution, supported with studies on male genitalia, and genetic analyses.