Cataglyphis nigra
Creators: name: Sharaf, Mostafa R.
name: Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S.
name: Mohamed, Amr A.
name: Fisher, Brian L.
name: Aldawood, Abdulrahman S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Formicidae
Cataglyphis
Cataglyphis nigra

description: <i>Cataglyphis nigra</i> (André, 1881) (Fig. 10 A–C) <i>Myrmecocystus viaticus</i> var. <i>niger</i> André, 1881a: 56 (w.) Palestine. Palearctic. <b> <i>Diagnosis.</i> Worker.</b> Uniform black; head usually red-black; first funiculus segment nearly 2× as long as second; propodeum high in profile with dorsum rounding evenly into its descending face; petiole a thick node, about as high as long in profile; cephalic surface densely superficially sculptured. <b> <i>Material examined</i>.</b> Doha, Al-Dohuil, 14.iii.2005, 25°22’N, 51°29’E, (M.S. Abdel-Dayem leg.), 2w (KSMA) <b> <i>Geographic distribution</i>.</b> <i>Cataglyphis nigra</i> is a Palearctic species originally described from Palestine and is broadly distributed in the Arabian Peninsula inclding KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen (Collingwood 1985), UAE (Walker and Pittaway 1987, Collingwood <i>et al.</i> 2011), and some countries in the Middle East including Syria (Santschi 1929), Israel (Ionescu and Eyer 2016), North Africa, from Algeria eastwardly to Egypt (Sharaf 2006, Borowiec and Salata 2020). The distribution map presented by Walker and Pittaway (1987) shows a geographic range extending eastward and including Qatar without any details about the record. Therefore, we consider our record to be the first confirmed collection of the species from the country. <b> <i>Ecological and biological notes</i>.</b> This species is abundant in most countries of the Arabian Peninsula (Collingwood 1985, Collingwood and Agosti 1996), with a seasonal peak in June that then decreases in cooler months (Sharaf <i>et al.</i> 2013). In Rawdhat Khorim (Riyadh Province, KSA), <i>C. nigra</i> was found foraging next to the following plants: <i>Acacia gerrardii</i>, Benth. (Fabaceae), <i>Calotropis procera</i> (Aiton) W. T. Aiton (Apocynaceae), <i>Rhazya stricta</i> Decne (Apocynaceae) and <i>Ziziphus nummularia</i> (Burm. f) Wight &amp; Arn. (Rhamnaceae) (Sharaf <i>et al.</i> 2013). Pashaei Rad <i>et al.</i> (2018) mentioned its habitat preference in Iran includes moderate and low rainfall.
description: Published as part of <i>Sharaf, Mostafa R., Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S., Mohamed, Amr A., Fisher, Brian L. &amp; Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2020, A Preliminary Synopsis of the Ant Fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Qatar with Remarks on the Zoogeography, pp. 533-560 in Annales Zoologici 70 (4)</i> on page 542, DOI: 10.3161/00034541anz2020.70.4.005, http://zenodo.org/record/4433537
description: {"references": ["Andre, E. 1881 a. Catalogue raisonne des Formicides provenant du voyage en Orient de M. Abeille de Perrin et description des especes nouvelles. Annales de la Societe entomologique de France, (6) (1): 53 - 78.", "Collingwood, C. A. 1985. Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia, 7: 230 - 302.", "Walker, D. H. and A. R. Pittaway. 1987. Insects of Eastern Arabia. MacMillan, London, UK, xvi + 175 pp.", "Collingwood, C. A., Agosti, D., Sharaf, M. R. &amp; A. van Harten. 2011. Order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae. Arthropod Fauna of the UAE, 4: 405 - 474.", "Santschi, F. 1929. Etude sur les Cataglyphis. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 36: 25 - 70.", "Ionescu, A. and P. A. Eyer. 2016. Notes on Cataglyphis Foerster, 1850 of the bicolor species-group in Israel, with description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Israel Journal of Entomology, 46: 109 - 131.", "Sharaf, M. R. 2006. Taxonomic and ecological studies on family Formicidae (Order: Hymenoptera) in Egypt including some protectorates with a study of some insect fauna associated with ant species [unpublished thesis]. Cairo: Ain Shams University, Faculty of Science, Entomology Department, 340 pp.", "Borowiec L, S. Salata. 2020. Review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Jordan. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, Entomology, 29: 1 - 26.", "Collingwood, C. A. and Agosti, D. 1996. Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2). Fauna of Arabia, 15: 300 - 385.", "Sharaf, M. R., Abdeldayem, M. S., Aldhafer, H. &amp; A. S. Aldawood. 2013. The ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Rawdhat Khorim nature preserve, Saudi Arabia, with description of a new species of the genus Tetramorium Mayr. Zootaxa, 3709 (6): 565 - 580.", "Pashaei Rad, S., Taylor, B., Torabi, R., Aram, E, Abolfathi, G., Afshari, R, Borjali, F., Ghatei, M., Hediary, F., Jazini, F., Heidary Kiah, V., Mahmoudi, Z., Safariyan, F. and M. Seiri. 2018. Further records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East, 64: 145 - 159."]}