1988] Lenoir, Querard, Pondicq, & Bert on — Cataglyphis 25 
the thorax several times during 2 or 3 min. If no male arrives, they 
reenter their nest, but frequently males do appear and mate. This 
female-climbing behavior may be interpreted in two ways. First, a 
sexual attractant pheromone might be emitted as suggested by the 
position of the abdomen. Sexual pheromones are known in some 
ant species (see Discussion). The fact that females do not fly renders 
use of sexual pheromones an advantage for this species. A second 
explanation is that the female is more easily seen by the males. It is 
known that Cataglyphis ants have a well developed visual system 
and workers orientate by vision during their foraging trips (Wehner 
et ah 1983). Males may also use vision to locate females. Acoustic 
communication by wing vibration is improbable because it cannot 
be used for distanct communication, and has not yet been observed 
in the sexual behavior of ants. 
Mating 
In C. cursor mating occurs on the ground (Cagniant 1976b) near 
the females nest during the hottest hours of the day (9 to 14 h). It 
lasts from some seconds to one minute. Two positions are possible: 
the male behind and above the female facing in the same direction, 
or the male facing in the opposite direction touching the female only 
by the extremity of the gaster. One male can copulate successively 
with several females after no more than a one minute intermission. 
Females may mate successively with one male or with different 
males. On various occasions in which males and females were 
present, mating did not occur for unknown reasons. 
Male behavior after mating 
Following copulation, males stay around the nest. During the 
night they crawl under stones or on twigs, with their heads directed 
toward the soil. They die rapidly: life span is probably not longer 
than 2 or 3 days. They are aggressed by C. cursor workers, or killed 
by predators, essentially spiders. Bernard noted the existence of 
nocturnal aggregation of C. cursor males (in Grasse 1942). 
Female behavior after mating 
After mating, newly inseminated alate females reenter the nest but 
sometimes run frenetically around the nest for several minutes. They 
are helped to reenter the nest by workers. Perhaps the females have 
difficulty in orienting themselves because it is their first foray into 
the open. When inseminated, females stay in the nest. These females 
will soon lose their wings in the nest. During the following days 
