Runner ants

Palearctic (North Africa , Southern Europe , Central and Central Asia ). At least 5 species of this genus are found in the Sahara desert ( Cataglyphis bicolor , Cataglyphis bombycina , Cataglyphis savigny , Cataglyphis mauritanicus, and Cataglyphis fortis ) ^[2] . Several species penetrate the oriental region ( India , Pakistan ) and up to 3,700 meters in the mountains of Asia.

A key group of ants are deserts, semi-deserts and steppes of the Old World. Morphologically and physiologically adapted to life in arid conditions , which allows them to survive even in the Sahara desert at a temperature of +50 ° C ^{[3] [4] [5]} . There are 2 known types of social parasite ^{[6] [7] [8]} .

The founding of new Cataglyphis families occurs both in a dependent way (budding of colonies: C. mauritanica, C. niger, C. cursor, C. floricola, C. hispanica ), and in an independent way ( C. sabulosa, C. livida, C. bicolor ) ^[9] .

In species with ordinary females (they have developed wings and wing muscles), mating flight of sexual individuals occurs. In species with brachypterous females (the wings are largely reduced, there are no wing muscles), mating occurs inside the parent nest, and they settle on the ground, sometimes accompanied by workers (by budding the colony). The last group includes C. tartessica, C. hispanica, C. velox, C. mauritanica, C. piliscapa, C. cretica . Some species with winged females ( C. italica, C. hellenica ) can also use both methods of settlement (walking and in flight) ^[10] .

The genus Cataglyphis belongs to the tribe Formicini, together with the related genera Alloformica , Bajcaridris , Formica , Polyergus , Proformica , Protoformica and Rossomyrmex .

There are about 80 species in the world fauna. In the fauna of Russia - 3 species ^{[11] [12]} :

One of their species is listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (VU) in the category of vulnerable species (VU) ^[14] :

  Cataglyphis hannae is vulnerable ^[15] .

• Dlussky G.M. Ways of adaptations of ants to life in deserts. Abstract. diss ... doctor. biol. sciences. - M .: Moscow State University. - 1981. - 33 p.
• Dlussky G.M. Desert Ants. - M .: Science. - 1981. - 230 p.
• Dlussky G.M. , Soyunov O.S., Zabelin S.I. Ants of Turkmenistan. - Ashgabat: Ylym. - 1989. - 273 p.
• Krasilnikov V. A., Runner ants , “Biology” (“First of September”, Moscow). 2003, No. 36, pp. 18-21.
• Radchenko A.G. Review of ants of the genus Cataglyphis Foerster (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Asia. // Entomol. review 1997.V. 76, No. 2. P. 424-442.
• Radchenko A.G. Determination table of ants of the genus Cataglyphis Foerster (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Asia. // Entomol. review 1998.Vol. 77, No. 2. P. 502-508.
• Agosti, D. 1990 . Review and reclassification of Cataglyphis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Journal of Natural History , 24: 1457-1505.
• Agosti, D. 1994 . A new inquiline ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Cataglyphis and its phylogenetic relationship. Journal of Natural History, 28: 913-919.
• Bolton B. 1995 . A new general catalog of the ants of the world . - Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
• Heusser, Daniel & Wehner, Rüdiger. 2002 . The visual centring response in desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis. The Journal of Experimental Biology 205: 585-590. [one]

• Ants of the genus Cataglyphis