Messor intermedius

Messor intermedius
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Stenammini
Genus:	Messor
Species group:	instabilis
Species complex:	semirufus
Species:	M. intermedius
Binomial name
Messor intermedius Santschi, 1927 Specimen Labels

Identification

Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - HW 2.78; EL/HW 0.16-0.17. This is a brown species with the alitrunk sometimes dark red but never as dark as the gaster. It resembles Messor semirufus in the relatively small eye size but is distinguished by the coarse sculpture and much darker colour.

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 39.916667° to 31.766667°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia.
Palaearctic Region: Greece, Israel, Oman, Syria (type locality), Türkiye, Turkmenistan.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Messor intermedius. Worker. Specimen code casent0907737. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Worker. Specimen code casent0281608. Photographer Shannon Hartman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Syntype of Messor intermedius. Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code casent0907736. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Worker. Specimen code antweb1008073. Photographer Elham Kashani, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ULM, Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• intermedius. Messor semirufus var. intermedius Santschi, 1927c: 229 (date of publication (31).v.1927).
  • Type-material: syntype workers, syntype queens, syntype males (numbers not stated).
  • Type-localities Syria: Doumar, Aïn Fidjé, Mezzé, Anti-Lebanon, and Damascus (G. de Kerville), Israel: Jerusalem (E. Schmitz).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • [First available use of Messor barbarus subsp. semirufus var. intermedia Forel, 1910a: 10 (w.) SYRIA, ISRAEL; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
  • Menozzi, 1933b: 53 (q.m.).
  • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1921f: 72; Santschi, 1921a: 110; Emery, 1922c: 97; Santschi, 1939c: 6.
  • Subspecies of semirufus: Menozzi, 1927e: 117 (date of publication 10.xi.1927); Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929d: 22; Menozzi, 1933b: 53; Santschi, 1934d: 275.
  • Junior synonym of semirufus: Baroni Urbani, 1974: 227.
  • Status as species: Arnol'di, 1977b: 1640 (in key); Dlussky, 1981a: 17; Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. 1981: 142; Dlussky & Zabelin, 1985: 211; Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990: 222; Bolton, 1995b: 254; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 318; Paknia, et al. 2008: 155; Vonshak, et al. 2009: 42; Legakis, 2011: 10; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 514; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 19; Borowiec, L. 2014: 107; Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 134; Khalili-Moghadam, et al. 2019: 172.
  • Distribution: Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey.

Type Material

Salata & Borowiec (2019): syntype (w.): Messor | barbarus | subsp. semirufus | Andr. | v. intermedia | type | For || Typus || Doumar Syrie | (Kerville) 22 || Coll. | A. Forel || ANTWEB | CASENT0907736 (MHNG).

References

• Arnol'di, K. V. 1977b. Review of the harvester ants of the genus Messor (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the fauna of the USSR. Zool. Zh. 5 56: 1637-1648 (page 1640, Revived from synonymy, and raised to species (in key))
• Baroni Urbani, C. 1974a. Studi sulla mirmecofauna d'Italia. XII. Le Isole Pontine. Fragm. Entomol. 9: 225-252 (page 227, Junior synonym of semirufus)
• Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Collingwood, C. A. and D. Agosti. 1996. Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (part 2). Fauna Saudi Arabia. 15:300-385.
• Demetriou, J., Georgiadis, C., Ralli, V., Salata, S., Borowiec, L. 2024. Setting the record straight: a re-examination of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Cyprus deposited at the Museum of Zoology of Athens. Zootaxa 55231, 49–69 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5523.1.3).
• Dlussky, G. M.; Zabelin, S. I. 1985. Ant fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the River Sumbar Basin (south-west Kopetdag). Pp. 208-246 in: Nechaevaya, N. T. (ed.) The vegetation and animal world of western Kopetdag. Ashkhabad: Ylym, 278 pp. (page 211, see also)
• Forel, A. 1910a. Glanures myrmécologiques. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 54: 6-32 (page 10, First available use of Messor barbarus subsp. semirufus var. intermedia; unavailable name.)
• Khalini-Moghadam, A., Borowiec, L., Nemati, A. 2019. New records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province of Iran with taxonomic comments. Polish Journal of Entomology 88: 163–182 (DOI 10.2478/pjen-2019-0013).
• Kiran, K., Karaman, C. 2020. Additions to the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Zoosystema 42(18), 285-329 (doi:10.5252/zoosystema2020v42a18).
• Makhan, D., Ezzatpanah, S., Ghahari, H., Naderian, H., Hadian, A., & Hawkeswood, T.J. 2011. Mesostena angustata (Fabricius, 1775)(Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from Semnan, Iran, feeding on ants of Messor intermedius Santschi, 1927 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Calodema, 171: 1-6.
• Menozzi, C. 1927e. Zur Erforschung des Persischen Golfes. (Beitrag nr. 12) Formicidae (Hym.). Suppl. Entomol. 16: 117-119 (page 117, Variety of semirufus)
• Salata, S., Borowiec, L. 2019. Preliminary contributions toward a revision of Greek Messor Forel, 1890 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Turkish Journal of Zoology 43:52-67 (doi:10.3906/zoo-1809-41).
• Salata, S., Demetriou, J., Georgiadis, C., Borowiec, L. 2023. The genus Messor Forel, 1890 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Cyprus. Annales Zoologici 73(2): 215-234 (doi:10.3161/00034541anz2023.73.2.006).
• Salata, S., Lapeva-Gjonova, A., Georgiadis, C., Borowiec, L. 2023. Review of the Messor semirufus complex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Greece. ZooKeys 1185, 105–142 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1185.111484).
• Santschi, F. 1927d. Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.). Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 27: 225-250 (page 229, worker described)
• Tohmé, G.; Tohmé, H. 1981. Les fourmis du genre Messor en Syrie. Position systématique. Description de quelques ailés et de formes nouvelles. Répartition géographique. Ecol. Mediterr. 7(1 1: 139-153 (page 142, see also)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
• Collingwood, C. A. and D. Agosti. 1996. Formicidae (Insects: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2) Fauna of Saudi Arabia 15: 300-385.
• Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp
• Forel A. 1910. Glanures myrmécologiques. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 54: 6-32.
• Khalili-Moghadam A., L. Borowiec, and A. Nemati. 2019. New records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province of Iran with taxonomic comments. Polish Journal of Entomology 88 (2): 163–182.
• Kuznetsov G. T. 1990. Comparative analysis of Hymenoptera (Formicidae) population on altitudinal zones of central Kopetdag. Izvestiya Akademii Nauk Turkmenskoi SSR. Seriya Biologicheskikh Nauk 1990(3): 64-67.
• Menozzi C. 1927. Zur Erforschung des Persischen Golfes. (Beitrag nr. 12) Formicidae (Hym.). Supplementa Entomologica. 16: 117-119.
• Paknia O., A. Radchenko, H. Alipanah, and M. Pfeiffer. 2008. A preliminary checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Iran. Myrmecological News 11: 151-159.
• Paknia O., and M. Pfeiffer. 2011. Hierarchical partitioning of ant diversity: implications for conservation of biogeographical diversity in arid and semi-arid areas. Diversity and Distributions 17: 122-131.
• Paknia O., and M. Pfeiffer. 2014. Niche-based processes and temporal variation of environment drive beta diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in dryland ecosystems of Iran. Myrmecological News 20: 15-23.
• Santschi, F.. "Fourmis d'une croisière." Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Bruxelles) 74 (1934): 273-282.
• Santschi, F.. "Notes sur les fourmis paléarctiques. II. Fourmis d'Asie Mineure récoltées par M. H. Gadeau de Kerville." Boletín de la Real Sociedad española de Historia natural (Madrid) 21 (1921): 110-116.
• Santschi, F.. "Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.)." Boletín de la Real Sociedad española de Historia natural (Madrid) 27 (1927): 225-250.
• Santschi, F.. "Trois notes sur quelques fourmis du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique." Bulletin du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique 15 (1939): 1-15.
• Siberian Zoological Museum. Website available at http://szmn.sbras.ru/old/Hymenop/Formicid.htm. Accessed on January 27th 2014.
• Tohme G. 1996. Formicidae. Etude de la diversité biologique n° 4 . Ministère de l’Agriculture à Beyrouth (Eds.). P85-87.
• Tohme G., and H. Tohme. 2014. Nouvelles liste des especes de fourmis du Liban (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea). Lebanese Science Journal 15(1): 133-141.
• Tohmé, G., and H. Tohmé. "Les fourmis du genre Messor en Syrie. Position systématique. Description de quelques ailés et de formes nouvelles. Répartition géographique." Ecologia Mediterranea 7 (1) (1981): 139-153, fig. 1-22.
• Vonshak M., and A. Ionescu-Hirsch. 2009. A checklist of the ants of Israel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Israel Journal of Entomology 39: 33-55.