Cataglyphis viaticus (Fabricius)

Agosti, Donat, 1990, Review and reclassification of Cataglyphis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), Journal of Natural History 24, pp. 1457-1505 : 1490-1491

Cataglyphis viaticus (Fabricius)

Formica viatica Fabricius, 1787: 308. Lectotype worker (here designated), Spain (M. Vohl) ZMUC [examined; see note below], [Later changes: Monocombus viaticus, Mayr, 1855: 382; Cataglyphis viatica, Mayr, 1861: 45; Myrmecocystus viatica, Emery and Forel, 1879: 449; Myrmecocystus viaticus, Andre, 1882: 167: Cataglyphis viaticus, Santschi, 1919: 246; Cataglyphis (Cataglyphis) viatica. Emery, 1925: 266; Cataglyphis (Monocombus) viatica, Santschi, 1929: 29.] (Descriptions of female and male: Mayr, 1861: 45.) [ Cataglyphis viaticus, Zalesky, 1939: 239 = Cataglyphis nodus'! [misidentification].]

Formica cephalotes ssp. europaea Christ, 1791: 511. [Synonymy by Emery, 1892: 161.]

Myrmecocystus viaticus var. desertorum Forel, 1894: 402. Syntypes workers, Tunisia ( Gabès) [no types in MHNG]. [Later changes: Myrmecocystus viaticus ssp. desertorum, Emery, 1898: 126; Myrmecocystus viaticus r. desertorum, Forel, 1902: 156; Myrmecocystus viaticus var. desertorum, Forel, 1904: 381; as synonym of Myrmecocystus viaticus ssp. bicolor, Forel, 1907: 15; re-erected as var.: Myrmecocystus bicolor var. desertorum, Karavaiev, 1912a: 17; Myrmecocystus (Cataglyphis) bicolor ssp. desertorum, Karavaiev, 1924: 306; Cataglyphis (Cataglyphis) bicolor St. nodus var. desertorum, Santschi, 1929a: 45, name unavailable; Cataglyphis desertorum, Collingwood, 1985: 286.] (Descriptions: female, Karavaiev, 1924: 306; male, Karavaiev, 1912a: 17; Santschi, 1929a: 46.) Synonymy reconfirmed.

Note. In the original description 'inmaculato petiolo nodo unico’ (Fabricius, 1787: 308) indicates that this species probably belongs to the bicolor group.

In the Fabricius collection (ZMUC), three specimens are conserved under the name viatica. Two are badly damaged, but can be diagnosed as viatica by their maxillary palps and the nodiform petiole respectively. A third specimen is labelled viatica, Mus: S: & L: T, L [corresponding to Sehestedt and Tonder Lund Museum (Zimsen, 1964; Petersen, personal communication)] and Vohl, and represents the holotype. Martin Vohl was a Danish botanist, who gave Fabricius insects from North Africa and Spain. Unfortunately, the material was often not labelled appropriately and the localities have thus been confused (Zimsen, 1964; Petersen, personal communication). The choice of Spain as the type-locality (Forel, 1895: 228) was therefore arbitrary, and could as easily have been North Africa. The latter seems to be more reasonable because, as yet, no ants of the bicolor group have been recorded in Spain. Forel’s decision has been disastrous, as ever since all records of viaticus and most of bicolor are misidentifications until Tinaut (1990) correctly pointed this out.

The examination of the holotype revealed that it does not belong to the altisquamis group as assumed by earlier authors (e.g. Emery, 1925; Santschi, 1929a; Arnoldi, 1968) but to the bicolor group. Characters to place this species are:

1. Maxillary palp-segments 3 and 4 elongated, MI > 90.

2. Petiole nodiform.

Apart from the placement within the bicolor group no synonymy with other species can be established yet.