Cataglyphis argentata (Radoszkowsky, 1876)

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 argentata (Radoszkowsky, 1876)

Camponotus argentata Radoszkowsky, 1876: 140.

Cataglyphis argentata : Dalla Torre (1893): 217.

Cataglyphis Type specimens. Unavailable.

Diagnosis.

Whole body yellow, only gaster sometimes with indistinctly infuscated apex; mesosoma, body covered with a layer of silvery hair.

Distribution.

Egypt.

Note.

Type specimens of this species are considered lost and, as suggested by Agosti (1990), due to ambiguous description of this species, its assignation to the Cataglyphis livida complex is tentative. The silvery hair mentioned in the description can suggest an affiliation of C. argentata with the bombycina or laevior complexes. If C. argentata is a member of the Cataglyphis livida complex, then its description could indicate that it is probably conspecific with two other North African taxa: C. arenaria and C. aurata . If this assumption is correct, then the name C. argentata has priority over C. arenaria and C. aurata .