Cataglyphis

Cataglyphis
Cataglyphis bicolor worker
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Formicini
Genus: Cataglyphis
Förster, 1850
Diversity[1]
93 species
Synonyms

Eomonocombus Arnol'di, 1968
Machaeromyrma Forel, 1916
Monocombus Mayr, 1855
Paraformica Forel, 1915

Cataglyphis [2] is a genus of ant, desert ants, in the subfamily Formicinae. Its most famous species is C. bicolor, the Sahara Desert ant, which runs on hot sand to find insects that died of heat exhaustion, and can, like other several other Cataglyphis species, sustain body temperatures up to 50°C.[3] Cataglyphis is also the name of an autonomous rover[4] that won the NASA Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge[5] inspired by the navigation approaches used by desert ants.

  1. ^ Bolton, B. (2014). "Cataglyphis". AntCat. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  2. ^ Steck, K.; Hansson, B. S.; Knaden, M. (2009). "Smells like home: Desert ants, Cataglyphis fortis, use olfactory landmarks to pinpoint the nest". Frontiers in Zoology. 6: 5. doi:10.1186/1742-9994-6-5. PMC 2651142. PMID 19250516.
  3. ^ Shi, N. N.; Tsai, C.-C.; Camino, F.; Bernard, G. D.; Yu, N.; Wehner, R. (2015). "Keeping cool: Enhanced optical reflection and radiative heat dissipation in Saharan silver ants". Science. 349 (6245): 298–301. Bibcode:2015Sci...349..298S. doi:10.1126/science.aab3564. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 26089358. S2CID 206638368.
  4. ^ "NASA_Challenge". www2.statler.wvu.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-07-02. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  5. ^ Hall, Loura (2016-09-08). "NASA Awards $750K in Sample Return Robot Challenge". Retrieved 2016-09-29.