Messor maculifrons

Messor maculifrons
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. maculifrons
Binomial name
Messor maculifrons Santschi, 1927

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 41.716667° to 29.883333°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Egypt, Israel, Syria (type locality).

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.

Nomenclature

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

• maculifrons. Messor semirufus var. maculifrons Santschi, 1927c: 228.
  • Type-material: 21 syntype workers.
  • Type-localities: 20 workers Turkey (“Syria”): Alexandretta (= Hatay Prov., Iskenderun) (Geade), 1 worker Caucasus (no further data) (Karawayew).
  • Type-depository: NHMB.
  • [First available use of Messor barbarus st. semirufus var. maculifrons Santschi, 1917e: 91 (w.) TURKEY, CAUCASUS; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
  • [Note: the Caucasus locality is probably Georgia (Tbilisi), as recorded in Santschi, 1927c: 228.]
  • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1921f: 72; Emery, 1922c: 97.
  • Subspecies of semirufus: Finzi, 1936: 159.
  • Junior synonym of semirufus: Baroni Urbani, 1974: 227.
  • Status as species: Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. 1981: 143; Bolton, 1995b: 255; Vonshak, et al. 2009: 42; Borowiec, L. 2014: 108; Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 134.
  • Distribution: Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey.

References

• 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.
• 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. 1917e. Races et variétés nouvelles du Messor barbarus L. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Afr. Nord 8: 89-94 (page 91, First available use of Messor barbarus st. semirufus var. maculifrons; unavailable name.)
• Santschi, F. 1927d. Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.). Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 27: 225-250 (page 228, 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 143, Revived from synonymy, and raised to species)

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.
• Finzi, B.. "Risultati scientifici della spedizione di S. A. S. il Principe Alessandro della Torre e Tasso nell'Egitto e peninsola del Sinai. XI. Formiche." Bulletin de la Société Entomologique d'Egypte 20 (1936): 155-210.
• Santschi, F.. "Races et variétés nouvelles du Messor barbarus L." Bulletin de la Société d' Histoire naturelle de l' Afrique du Nord 8 (1917): 89-94.
• Santschi, F.. "Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.)." Boletín de la Real Sociedad española de Historia natural (Madrid) 27 (1927): 225-250.
• 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.