REPRODUCTION AND DISPERSAL IN THE ANT 
CATAGLYPHIS CURSOR (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) 
By A. Lenoir 1 , L. Querard 2 , N. Pondicq 2 and F. Berton 2 
Introduction 
Cataglyphis cursor (Fonscolombe 1846) is a Mediterranean 
formicine species, living in dry and arid habitats which have sparce 
vegetation (Cagniant 1976a). It is also found in areas covered with 
relatively abundant vegetation, for example in Provence near Apt in 
abandonned lavender fields (Lenoir et al in prep.) or in meadows of 
the Catalan coast near Barcelona (Retana, in prep.). Societies are 
considered to be monogynous and monodomous (Cagniant 1976b, 
Retana 1986). Elsewhere Cagniant (1973) and Suzzoni and Cag- 
niant (1975) observed, in the laboratory, that orphan workers of this 
species are able to reproduce by thelytokous parthenogenesis, which 
enables the colony to gain a recently inseminated queen. As neither 
queenless colonies, nor isolated females, have ever been observed in 
the field, we wished to investigate modes of colony foundation in 
this species. 
Material and Methods 
All observations were made during July and August from 1983 to 
1986 in 3 sites in France: near Apt (Vaucluse— 500 m high), near Le 
Muy (Var — 150, 200 m), and on the edge of the Etang de Leucate 
(St-Hippolyte, Pyr-Orientales, sea level). In some of the sites the 
entrances of the nests were flagged with a numbered label. When 
necessary workers and sexuals were captured. They were marked 
with a dot of paint “ceramique a froid” and released 5 or 10 minutes 
later. This technique was tested in the laboratory, where marked 
ants immediately reentered their nest without hostility from their 
nestmates. Marked individuals did not have a higher mortality rate 
•Laboratoire d’Ethologie et Sociobiologie, UA CNRS 667 Universite Paris Nord, av. 
J. B. Clement, F-93430 VILLETANEUSE, FRANCE. 
2 Laboratoire d’Ethologie et Psychophysiologie, Faculte des Sciences, Parc de 
Grandmont, F-37200 TOURS, FRANCE. 
Manuscript received by the editor December 15, 1987. 
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