1988] Lenoir, Querard, Pondicq, & Berton — Cataglyphis 
39 
Wilson 1971), Formica polyctena (Otto 1960) are reported as the- 
lytokous species but the data are not very convincing. Often they are 
not confirmed (as in Atta, Bazire-Benazet 1970). In Aphaenogaster 
senilis thelytoky seems to exceptionally appear after a thermic shock 
to workers (Ledoux 1984). Thelytoky has also been noted in virgin 
females of two species of Aphaenogaster (Haskins and Enzmann 
1945), Solenopsis invicta (Tshinkel and Howard 1978), and perhaps 
in the termite Reticulitermes (Howard et al. 1981). 
In summary Cataglyphis cursor is a remarkable Formicine spe- 
cies: females do not fly and instead mate near their natal nest which 
they re-enter. Societies reproduce by budding with the departure of 
workers with a young queen. Dispersal distance is limited to the 
walking range of workers (less than ten meters). Neighboring socie- 
ties are more or less closely related and this permits a particular 
strategy for exploiting the resources of their habitat (Lenoir et al. in 
prep.). This species may reproduce by thelytoky but it seems to be 
an accessory possibility in the case of the queen death. 
Acknowledgments 
Financial support was provided by CNRS (Population Biology 
Program). We thank J. Ramos for providing Liometopum foun- 
dations, B. Corbara, D. Cherix, J. P. Lachaud, J. Retana and P. 
Schmid-Hempel for critical reading the manuscript. Special thanks 
are due to L. Passera and H. Cagniant for personal communications 
and to B. Thorne for improving the English. All the comments were 
appreciated even if their advice was not always followed. 
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