Messor syriacus

Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) found this species in Iran on the ground in moderate to low rainfall areas.

Identification
Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - HW 1.7-2.3; EL/HW 0.24-0.28. This species has large eyes and a well-developed psammophore. The propodeum is rounded in profile, not angulate.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia. Palaearctic Region: Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey.

Nomenclature

 * . Messor syriacus Tohmé, G. 1969: 9.
 * Type-material: holotype worker.
 * Type-locality: Syria: Damas (= Damascus) (G. de Kerville).
 * Type-depository: NHMB.
 * [First available use of Messor minor st. laboriosus var. syriacus Santschi, 1927c: 241 (w.m.) SYRIA; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
 * Tohmé, G. 1969: 9 (m.); Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. 1981: 146 (q.m.).
 * As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Santschi, 1927d: 247.
 * Subspecies of minor: Arnol'di, 1977b: 1640 (in key); Arakelian, 1994: 37.
 * Status as species: Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. 1981: 145; Collingwood, 1985: 252; Kugler, J. 1988: 257; Bolton, 1995b: 257; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 322; Vonshak, et al. 2009: 43; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 21; Borowiec, L. 2014: 113; Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 135; Khalili-Moghadam, et al. 2019: 177.
 * Distribution: Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey.

Type Material
Salata & Borowiec (2019): syntype (w.): M. aralocaspius | laboriosus | v. syriacus Sanschi || TYPE || Syrie | Damas. | G. de Kerville || Sammlung | Dr. F. Santschi || Kairouan || ANTWEB | CASENT0913178 (NHMB).

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.
 * Collingwood C. A. 1985. Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 7: 230-302.
 * 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.
 * Pashaei Rad S., B. Taylor, R. Torabi, E. Aram, G. Abolfathi, R. Afshari, F. Borjali, M. Ghatei, F. Hediary, F. Jazini, V. Heidary Kiah, Z. Mahmoudi, F. Safariyan, and M. Seiri. 2018. Further records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 64(2): 145-159.
 * 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.