Messor sultanus

Messor sultanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Stenammini
Genus:	Messor
Species group:	instabilis
Species complex:	wasmanni
Species:	M. sultanus
Binomial name
Messor sultanus Santschi, 1917 Specimen Labels

Distribution

Records from Serbia are probably based on misidentifications (Borowiec, 2014).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 36.202778° to 31.766667°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Iran, Israel (type locality), Türkiye.

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

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Messor sultanus. Worker. Specimen code casent0913218. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMB, Basel, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

• sultanus. Messor barbarus var. sultana Santschi, 1917e: 89 (w.) ISRAEL.
  • Type-material: holotype (?) worker.
  • [Note: no indication of number of specimens is given.]
  • Type-locality: Israel (“Syria”): Jerusalem (S. Chadli Mrabet).
  • Type-depository: NHMB.
  • Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. 1981: 149 (q.m.).
  • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1921f: 70.
  • Subspecies of barbarus: Emery, 1922c: 95; Santschi, 1923f: 326 (in text); Santschi, 1925g: 342 (in key); Santschi, 1927c: 246; Menozzi, 1933b: 56 (in key).
  • Status as species: Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. 1981: 148; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 54; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b: 271 (in key); Kugler, J. 1988: 257; Collingwood, 1993b: 194; Bolton, 1995b: 257; Petrov, 2006: 93 (in key); Vonshak, et al. 2009: 43; Legakis, 2011: 12; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 516; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 20; Borowiec, L. 2014: 113; Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 134; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2020: 13.
  • Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey.

References

• Agosti, D.; Collingwood, C. A. 1987a. A provisional list of the Balkan ants (Hym. Formicidae) and a key to the worker caste. I. Synonymic list. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 60: 51-62 (page 54, Raised to species)
• Borowiec, L. & Salata, S. 2013. Ants of Greece – additions and corrections (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 24, 335-401.
• 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., Salata, S. 2020. Review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Jordan. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, Entomology 29 (online 2): 1-26 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.3733156).
• Emery, C. 1922d. Messor barbarus (L.). Appunti de sinonimia e di sistematica. Boll. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 54: 92-99 (page 95, Subspecies/stirps of barbarus)
• Kiran, K., Karaman, C. 2020. Additions to the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Zoosystema 42(18), 285-329 (doi:10.5252/zoosystema2020v42a18).
• Salata, S., Borowiec, L., Trichas, A. 2020. Review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Crete, with keys to species determination and zoogeographical remarks. Monographs of the Upper Silesian Museum No 12: 5–296 (doi:10.5281/ZENODO.3738001).
• 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 89, worker described)
• Santschi, F. 1925g. Fourmis d'Espagne et autres espèces paléarctiques (Hymenopt.). EOS. Rev. Esp. Entomol. 1: 339-360 (page 342, (in key) Subspecies/stirps of barbarus)
• Santschi, F. 1927d. Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.). Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 27: 225-250 (page 246, Subspecies/stirps of barbarus)
• 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 148, Raised to species)
• 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 149, queen, male described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Agosti, D. and C.A. Collingwood. 1987. A provisional list of the Balkan ants (Hym. Formicidae) and a key to the worker caste. I. Synonymic list. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft, 60: 51-62
• 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. 1993. A Comparitive Study of the Ant Fauna of Five Greek Islands. Biologia Gallo-hellenica. 20,1:191-197
• Collingwood, C. A.. "A comparative study of the ant fauna of five Greek islands." Biologia Gallo-Hellenica 20 (1993): 191-197.
• 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
• Ghahari H., and C. A. Collingwood. 2013. A study on the ants (Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Formicidae) from Western Iran. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica 48 (1): 155–164.
• Kiran K., and C. Karaman. 2012. First annotated checklist of the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3548: 1-38.
• Kugler J. 1988. The zoogeography of Israel. 9. The zoogeography of social insects of Israel and Sinai. Monographiae biologicae 62: 251-275.
• Legakis Collection Database
• Santschi F. 1925. Fourmis d'Espagne et autres espéces paléartiques EOS (Revista española de entomología) 1: 339-360.
• 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.
• 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.