#1360 - Cataglyphis sp. - Desert Ant
Apparently I’m identifying insects from the Middle East too, now. Photo by Monica Kervin, who was at Wadi Rum in Jordan.
Cataglyphis ants are most diverse in North Africa, but a few are found up in Eurasia as well. The Saharan species are especially well-tuned for life in a hot arid environment, to the point that at one species can survive temperatures of over 55C (131F), at noon day, when all other animals have fled for shelter.
But even these guys have to hurry - at those temperatures they only have minutes to fan out, find other insects killed by the heat, and find their way back to the nest before they fry. And do this in a sandy, windy environment, where they can’t leave pheromone tracks.
As a result, Cataglyphis ants are amazingly good navigators, calculating their position from the sun, and adjusting it each time they change the direction they're running in. That way, they can make a beeline back to the nest when time runs out. Various researchers have tested this ability be covering the sun and using a mirror as a fake sun, or putting the ants on stilts or partially amputating their legs ( :( ) to confuse their step count.