Messor aralocaspius

This is generally a highland species in Arabia and constructs relatively large crater nests (Collingwood and Agosti 1996).

Identification
Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - HW 1.9-2.4; EL/HW 0.19-0.23. The head is strongly striate and the whole of the alitrunk dorsum is transversely striate. All dorsal surfaces are covered with long pale hairs. The psammophore is moderately developed, never thick. The propodeum is angulate in profile but never dentate or spined.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia. Palaearctic Region: China, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Russian Federation, Turkmenistan.

It is found in South East Europe, Saudi Arabia and Iraq (Abdul-Rassoul et al. 2013).

Nomenclature

 * . Aphaenogaster barbara var. aralocaspia Ruzsky, 1902c: 20 (w.) KAZAKHSTAN.
 * Type-material: syntype workers.
 * Type-locality: Kazakhstan: [journal not seen].
 * Type-depository: ZMUM.
 * Karavaiev, 1910b: 63 (q.m.); Stitz, 1930: 240 (q.).
 * Combination in Aphaenogaster (Messor): Ruzsky, 1905b: 745;
 * combination in Messor: Emery, 1908e: 449.
 * As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Ruzsky, 1905b: 745; Emery, 1908e: 449; Karavaiev, 1910b: 62; Emery, 1921f: 71; Emery, 1922c: 94; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1923: 257; Ruzsky, 1923: 4; Stitz, 1930: 240.
 * Subspecies of barbarus: Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927a: 90 (in key); Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929d: 16.
 * Subspecies of minor: Santschi, 1927c: 239; Santschi, 1927d: 247; Finzi, 1936: 159.
 * Status as species: Pisarski, 1967: 384; Pisarski, 1969b: 306; Pisarski, 1970: 306; Tarbinsky, 1976: 65 (redescription); Arnol'di, 1977b: 1642 (in key); Dlussky, 1981a: 17; Collingwood, 1985: 248; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 54; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b: 270 (in key); Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990: 218; Bolton, 1995b: 252; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 315; Collingwood & Heatwole, 2000: 7; Petrov, 2006: 91 (in key); Schultz, R. et al. 2006: 206; He & Song, 2009: 722; Karaman, M.G. 2011b: 36; Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 45; Borowiec, L. 2014: 101 (see note in bibliography).
 * Material of the unavailable name tamerlani referred here by Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990: 218.
 * Distribution: Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Yemen.
 * Current subspecies: nominal plus infumatus.

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.
 * Collingwood C., and H. Heatwole. 2000. Ants from Northwestern China (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Psyche 103 (1-2): 1-24.
 * Collingwood, C. A.. "Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia." Fauna of Saudi Arabia 7 (1985): 230-302.
 * Dlussky G. M., O. S. Soyunov, and S. I. Zabelin. 1990. Ants of Turkmenistan. Ashkabad: Ylym Press, 273 pp.
 * Firouzi F., S. P. Rad, S. H. Nezhad, and D. Agosti. 2011. Four new records of ants from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 52: 7178.
 * Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
 * He D.-H., and L. Song. 2009. A taxon of the ant genus Messor Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from China, with description of two new species in desert region. Highlights of Sciencepaper Online 2: 720-725.
 * Karaman M. G. 2011. A catalogue of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Montenegro. Podgorica: Catalogues 3, Volume 2, Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, 140 pp.
 * Karavaiev V. 1911. Ameisen aus Transkaspien und Turkestan. Tr. Rus. Entomol. Obshch. 39: 1-72.
 * Mokrousov M. V., and V.A. Zryanin. 2015. Materials on the early spring wasps and ants fauna of Uzbekistan (Hymenoptera: Vespomorpha: Chrysidoidea, Scolioidea, Pompiloidea, Vespoidea, Apoidea [Spheciformes], Formicoidea). Entomological research Russia and its neighboring regions 5: 36–48.
 * Pekar, S. 2009. Capture Efficiency of an Ant-Eating Spider, Zodariellum asiaticum (Araneae: Zodariidae), from Kazakhstan. Journal of Arachnology 37(3):388-391
 * Pisarski B. 1967. Fourmis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) d'Afghanistan récoltées par M. Dr. K. Lindberg. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 24: 375-425.
 * Ruzsky, M. 1923. Ants of Cheleken Island. Izv. Tomsk. Gos. Univ. 72(2nd p part: 1-6
 * Schultz, R., A. G. Radchenko, and B. Seifert. "A critical checklist of the ants of Kyrgyzstan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8 (2006): 201-207.