| Cataglyphis cursor | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cataglyphis cursor subsp. creticus worker | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Genus: | Cataglyphis |
| Species: | C. cursor
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cataglyphis cursor (
Fonscolombe, 1846)
| |
Cataglyphis cursor is a species of ant in the genus Cataglyphis. [1] Described in 1846, it is known only from the Mediterranean parts of France. [2]
Reproduction
Parthenogenesis is a natural form of reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. Thelytoky is a particular form of parthenogenesis in which the development of a female individual occurs from an unfertilized egg. Automixis is a form of thelytoky, but there are several kinds of automixis. The kind of automixis relevant here is one in which two haploid products from the same meiosis combine to form a diploid zygote.
The process of automictic thelytoky with central fusion has been studied in C. cursor. [3] [4] Central fusion allows heterozygosity to be largely maintained. Queen ants use this process to produce female reproductive progeny ( gynes), thus increasing the transmission of their own genes through the germline lineage. Also, queens use sexual reproduction to produce worker ants. In C. cursor colonies with a single queen, 96.4% of daughter queens arise from thelytokous parthenogenetic eggs, while 97.9% of daughter workers arise from fertilized eggs. [3]
Subspecies
Besides the type subspecies, the following three are recognized:
- Cataglyphis cursor subsp. aterrimus Pisarski, 1967
- Cataglyphis cursor subsp. creticus ( Forel, 1910)
- Cataglyphis cursor subsp. rockingeri (Forel, 1911)
References
- ^ Bolton, B. (2015). "Cataglyphis cursor". AntCat. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ Borowiec, L.; Salata, S. (2013). "Ants of Greece – additions and corrections (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)" (PDF). Genus. 24 (3–4). Wroclaw: 335–401.
- ^ a b Pearcy M, Aron S, Doums C, Keller L (2004). "Conditional use of sex and parthenogenesis for worker and queen production in ants". Science. 306 (5702): 1780–3. Bibcode: 2004Sci...306.1780P. doi: 10.1126/science.1105453. PMID 15576621. S2CID 37558595.
- ^ Aron S, Timmermans I, Pearcy M (2011). "Ant queens adjust egg fertilization to benefit from both sexual and asexual reproduction". Biology Letters. 7 (4): 571–573. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.1189. PMC 3130223. PMID 21307046.