Cataglyphis lutea Pisarski, 1967 stat. rev.

Cataglyphis livida subsp. lutea Pisarski, 1967: 418 [first available use of Myrmecocystus albicans viaticoides Cataglyphis lutea Emery, 1906: 53].

Myrmecocystus albicans viaticoides Junior synonym of Cataglyphis livida: Radchenko, 1997: 428.

Myrmecocystus albicans viaticoides Syntype worker, Shiraz, Iran (MSNG) [Syntype worker images examined, AntWeb, CASENT0905718, photographs by Will Ericson, available on AntWeb.org].

Diagnosis.

Whole body yellow, only gaster sometimes with indistinctly infuscated apex; body never with a layer of silvery hair.

Distribution.

Species known from Arabian Peninsula east to Afghanistan.

Note.

Cataglyphis lutea was described from Shiraz, Fars Province in Iran as an unavailable quadrinominal name (Emery 1906), later validated by Pisarski (1967) as a subspecies of C. livida, and finally considered as its junior synonym (Radchenko 1997). A study on type specimen revealed that C. lutea distinctly differs from C. livida in lack of a layer of silvery hair on mesosoma, and its distribution does not overlap with confirmed records of C. livida . Thus, we decided to raise it to the species status. AntCat resources indicated that, except type locality, C. lutea is also known from Aran va Bidgol, Maranjab, Iran (CDA000106) and Saudi Arabia (CASENT0906455).