1988] Lenoir, Querard, Pondicq, & Bert on — Cataglyphis 37 
Rettenmeyer 1963, Franks 1985). This mechanism is similar to the 
swarming of bees. Budding was noted in Oecophylla by Ledoux 
(1950) who thought that groups of workers could be isolated from 
the colony and reproduce a new queen by thelytokous partheno- 
genesis, but it was not confirmed by Holldobler and Wilson (1983). 
Ledoux (1971, 1973, 1976) also observed budding in Aphaenogaster 
senilis where the majority of workers leave the nest with the aban- 
doned brood of the old queen. This mechanism, if confirmed, is 
different from the one observed in C. cursor where budding occurs 
by splitting the society in different groups, each having its own 
queen. Iridomyrmex purpureus has a remarkable diversity in its 
mode of colony foundation. New colonies can originate from a 
single foundress (haplometrosis), or foundress associations, or by 
colony budding, or by adoption of newly-mated queens (Holldobler 
and Carlin 1986). Claustral colony foundation and colony fission 
were also observed in Chelaner sp. a probably polygynous ant from 
Australia (Briese 1983). Colony fission seems to appear in this spe- 
cies under stress conditions such as drought. Colombel (1972) 
observed in Odontomachus troglodytes (= O. haematodes) a graft- 
ing process where a new isolated queen can attract workers from 
surrounding colonies. This could explain similar observations on O. 
assiniensis (Ledoux 1952). It seems, after this review, that Catagly- 
phis cursor is the first observed occurrence of a real budding process 
in monogynous, monodomous non-nomadic ants. Very little is 
known about the foundation of other Cataglyphis species. Cerda 
(1986) demonstrated that the polycalic C. iberica can produce new 
nests by fission, but the mode of foundation of new societies is 
unknown. Fridman and Avital (1983) observed foundresses of C. 
bicolor nigra bringing dead ants back to their nesting hole. This 
unique observation, which needs to be confirmed, could indicate an 
independent foundation, and that Cataglyphis is an heterogeneous 
genus. However, Schmid-Hempel never observed this phenomenon 
in C. bicolor during a two years study in Tunisia (Comm. pers). 
Mating Behaviour 
Holldobler and Bartz (1985) distinguished two types of strategies 
in mating behaviour. The first is called the “male aggregation syn- 
drome.” It is characteristic of species that form very large colonies. 
Males gather at specific mating sites where females fly to mate. 
Males produce a sexual attractant pheromone as in Camponotus 
