Messor marocanus

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

This ant is preyed upon by numerous spider species in the genus Zodarion (Araneae: Zodariidae). All members of this genus are specialized ant predators that exclusively prey on ants. (Pekár et al. 2018)

Identification

Keys including this Species

Key to Iberian Peninsula Messor species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 38.716667° to 29.688056°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Gibraltar, Iberian Peninsula, Morocco (type locality), Portugal, Spain.

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.

Biology

Castes

Images from AntWeb


Type of unavailable quadrinomial: Messor barbarus meridionalis maroccanus. Worker. Specimen code casent0904123. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

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

marocanus. Messor minor st. marocanus Santschi, 1927c: 248 (in key).
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
- Type-locality: Morocco: Mogador (A. Vaucher?).
- Type-depository: MSNG.
- [First available use of Messor barbarus subsp. meridionalis var. maroccana Emery, 1908e: 451 (w.) MOROCCO; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
- [Misspelled as maroccanus by De Haro & Collingwood, 1994: 102.]
- Cagniant & Espadaler, 1998: 426 (m.); Gómez & Espadaler, 2005: 25 (q.).
- As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Santschi, 1917e: 90; Emery, 1921f: 71; Emery, 1922c: 94.
- Subspecies of instabilis: Santschi, 1929e: 142; Santschi, 1931a: 4; Santschi, 1936c: 200; Bernard, 1945: 132.
- Status as species: Collingwood & Yarrow, 1969: 64; Collingwood, 1978: 81 (in key); De Haro & Collingwood, 1994: 102; Bolton, 1995b: 255; Cagniant & Espadaler, 1998: 426; Collingwood & Prince, 1998: 14 (in key); Gómez & Espadaler, 2005: 25; Cagniant, 2006a: 197; Borowiec, L. 2014: 108; Lebas, et al. 2016: 292; Barech, et al. 2020: 16.
- Material of the unavailable name laeviceps referred here by Emery, 1922c: 94, Santschi, 1929e: 142.
- Distribution: Algeria, Gibraltar, Morocco, Portugal, Spain.

Description

References

Ajerrar, A., Bouharroud, R., Zaafrani, M., Aabd, N.A., Qessaoui, R., Bahadou, H., Mayad, E.H., Tahiri, A., Chebli, B. 2020. Ground foraging ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Argane (Argania spinosa, L) ecosystem: Response to grazing impact. Asian Journal of Conservation Biology 9: 90-97.
Barech, G., Khaldi, M., Espadaler, X., Cagniant, H. 2020. Révision taxonomique du genre Messor (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) au Maghreb et description de Messor hodnii sp. n., une nouvelle espèce de fourmi trouvée en Algérie. Revue suisse de Zoologie 127(1) : 9-19 (doi:10.35929/RSZ.0002).
Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Cagniant, H.; Espadaler, X. 1998 [1997]. Le genre Messor au Maroc (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. (n.s.) 33: 419-434 (page 426, male described)
Collingwood, C. A.; Yarrow, I. H. H. 1969. A survey of Iberian Formicidae (Hymenoptera). EOS. Rev. Esp. Entomol. 44: 53-101 (page 64, Raised to species)
Collingwood, C.A., Prince, A. 1998. A guide to ants of Continental Portugal (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Boletim da Sociedade Portuguesa de Entomologia. Supl nº5, pp 49.
Emery, C. 1908f. Beiträge zur Monographie der Formiciden des paläarktischen Faunengebietes. (Hym.) Teil III. Dtsch. Entomol. Z. 1908: 437-465 (page 451, First available use of Messor barbarus subsp. meridionalis var. maroccana; unavailable name.)
Gómez, K; Espadaler, X. 2005. Description of the queen caste in Messor marocanus Santschi, 1927 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecol. Nachr. 7: 25-29 (page 25, queen described)
Miler, K., Turza, F. 2021. “O Sister, Where Art Thou?”—A review on rescue of imperiled individuals in ants. Biology 10, 1079 (doi:10.3390/biology10111079).
Orou, N., Csősz, S., Arnan, X., Pol, R. G., Arthofer, W., Schlick-Steiner, B. C., Steiner, F. M. 2023. Messor erwini sp. n., a hitherto cryptic harvester ant in the Iberian Peninsula. Zoologischer Anzeiger 307, 36–53 (doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2023.09.001).
Pekar, S., L. Petrakova, O. Sedo, S. Korenko, and Z. Zdrahal. 2018. Trophic niche, capture efficiency and venom profiles of six sympatric ant-eating spider species (Araneae: Zodariidae). Molecular Ecology. 27:1053-1064. doi:10.1111/mec.14485
Santschi, F. 1927d. Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.). Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 27: 225-250 (page 248, (in key) worker described)
Santschi, F. 1929e. Fourmis du Maroc, d'Algérie et de Tunisie. Bull. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 69: 138-165 (page 142, Stirps of instabilis)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Bernard F. 1970. Les fourmis de la forêt de Mâmora (Maroc). Revue d'Écologie et de Biologie du Sol 6:n483-513.
Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Cagniant, H and X. Espadaler, X. 1998 [1997]. Le genre Messor au Maroc (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. (n.s.) 33: 419-434
Carpintero, S., A. Tinaut, J. Reyes, and L. Arias. "Estudio faunístico de los formícidos (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del Parque Nacional de Doñana." Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología 25 (1-2) (2001): 133-152.
Collingwood C., and A. Prince. 1998. A guide to ants of continental Portugal (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Boletim da Sociedade Portuguesa de Entomologia. Suplemento 5: 1-49.
Delye, G., and J. L. Bonaric. "Fourmis du sud Marocain." Etude de certains milieux du Maroc et de leux evolution recente RCP 249 (1973).
Gómez, K., and X. Espadaler. "Description of the queen caste in Messor marocanus Santschi, 1927 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Myrmecologische Nachrichten 7 (2005): 25-29.
Santschi, F. 1917. Races et variétés nouvelles du Messor barbarus L. Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Afrique du Nord 8: 89-94.
Santschi, F.. "Inventa entomologica itineris Hispanici et Maroccani, quod a. 1926 fecerunt Harald et Håkan Lindberg. Fourmis du Bassin Méditerranéen occidental et du Maroc récoltées par MM. Lindberg." Societas Scientiarum Fennica (Helsingfors) 3 (14) (1931): 1-13.
Tinaut A. 2016. Ants of the Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Mountains Natural Park (Andalusia, Spain) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent., 40 (1-2): 125-159.
Tinaut, A.. "Contribución al conocimiento de los formícidos del Parque Nacional de Doñana." Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología 15 (1991): 57-63.
de Haro, Andrés, and C. A. Collingwood. "Prospección mirmecológica por Andalucia." Boletín de la Estación Central de Ecología 6 (12) (1977): 85-90.
de Haro, Andrés, and C. A. Collingwood. "Prospección mirmecológica por Extremadura (España) y Sao Brás-Almodovar, Alcácer do Sal, Serra da Estrela (Portugal)." Boletim da Sociedade Portuguesa de Entomologia Suplemento 3(1) (1992): 95-104.
de Haro, Andrés, and C. A. Collingwood. "Prospección mirmecológica por el litoral mediterráneo de Marruecos (Cabo Negro, Martil, Oued Lau) y su comparación con la zona meridional ibérica." Orsis 9 (1994): 97-104.
de Haro, Andrés, and C. A. Collingwood. "Prospección mirmecológica por la península Tingitana al norte del Rif (Marruecos)." Orsis (Organismes i Sistemes) 12 (1997): 93-99.