Messor carpathous

This species is poorly known. Workers were collected at twilight, in dry phrygana on Karpathos. Nest was in soil, with the area between nest entrances and its vicinity covered with dense net of paths that were used by workers (Salata & Borowiec, 2019).

Identification
Salata & Borowiec (2019): Messor carpathous was described as a subspecies of Messor oertzeni but it differs from it, and from related Messor alexandri, in reduced or absent sculpture on vertex, temple, and genae and in propodeum with wide at base, lobe-shaped projections, with blunt, rounded, and directed outwards tips. Messor carpathous can be also confused with Messor hellenius and some taxa of the M. structor group. It differs from M. hellenius in lack of psammophores; from Messor muticus in lack of abundant standing setae on side of head and presence of lobe-shaped projections on propodeum; from Messor mcarthuri and Messor varrialei in presence of lobe at the base of scape and propodeum with lobe-shaped projections; from Messor clivorum in reduced or absent sculpture on vertex, temple, and genae.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Greece.

Nomenclature

 * . Messor oertzeni var. carpathous Menozzi, 1936d: 277, fig. VI, 2 (w.) GREECE (Scarpanto I.).
 * Subspecies of oertzeni: Bolton, 1995b: 253; Legakis, 2011: 9.
 * Status as species: Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 46; Salata & Borowiec, 2019a: 54 (redescription).

Worker
Salata and Borowiec (2019) - (n = 10): HL: 2.627 ± 0.3 (2.032–2.951); HW: 2.732 ± 0.4 (1.934–3.147); SL: 1.928 ± 0.2 (1.657–2.086); EL: 0.402 ± 0.06 (0.279–0.459); EW: 0.353 ± 0.06 (0.262–0.426); ML: 3.192 ± 0.4 (2.59–3.64); PSL: 0.434 ± 0.04 (0.344–0.457); SDL: 0.373 ± 0.05 (0.256– 0.429); PEL: 0.864 ± 0.09 (0.721–0.951); PPL: 0.541 ± 0.07 (0.426–0.623); PEH: 0.701 ± 0.09 (0.525–0.82); PPH: 0.586 ± 0.08 (0.459–0.647); PNW: 1.598 ± 0.2 (1.279– 1.770); PEW: 0.563 ± 0.08 (0.426–0.648); PPW: 0.631 ± 0.1 (0.475–0.787); HI: 103.5 ± 4.8 (95.2– 107.3); SI1: 73.8 ± 4.2 (70.5–82.9); SI2: 71.6 ± 7.5 (66.1–87.1); MI: 50.1 ± 1.2 (48.6–52.0); EI1: 88.1 ± 5.6 (77.3–94.1); EI2: 13.4 ± 0.6 (12.7–14.4); PI: 148.3 ± 8.2 (135.0–157.1); PPI: 77.4 ± 4.8 (72.0–86.4).

Color. Whole body uniformly dark brown, sometimes malar area and lateral sides of clypeus bright brown to brown. Head. Square, nearly as long as wide, lateral surfaces below and above eyes gently convex, posterior edges convex, occipital margin of head concave. Anterior margin of the clypeus slightly convex and dentate on its central part. Eyes small, oval, 1.1 times as long as wide. Antennal scape short, in lateral view its anterior part curved, 0.7 times as long as length of the head, in apex gradually widened, its base with distinct, triangular tooth, funiculus long. Surface of scape with very fine microreticulation, shiny, covered with thin, moderate dense, decumbent to erect setae. Mandibles rounded with thick, dense, longitudinal striae, shiny. Clypeus shiny with thick, longitudinal striae, area between striae rugulose. Frontal carinae short, not extending beyond frontal lobes. Antennal fossa shallow, with dense, thin, and weak roundly curved and longitudinal striae, area between striae smooth, shiny. Frontal lobes narrow, smooth with slight, dense longitudinal striation. Whole head shiny with very dense, fine and longitudinal striation, striae on central and anterior parts of frons and malar area stronger and thicker, vertex, temple and genae with striation weaker, in big workers sometimes strongly reduced or absent. The whole head surface covered by short, adpressed and thick setae; frons and vertex with a few additional erect, thick setae; ventral surface of head with dense layer of thin, erect, straight setae. Mesosoma. Short, 2 times as long as wide; metanotal groove present. Pronotum convex on sides. In lateral view promesonotum arched, propodeum positioned lower than promesonotum, its dorsum flat and leaning towards propodeal declivity, propodeum with very wide at base, lobe-shaped projections with tips blunt and rounded directed outwards. Whole mesosoma shiny, with dense transverse striation, lateral sides of mesonotum with striation irregular or longitudinal; dorsum of promesonotum with reduced sculpture; mesosoma dorsum sometimes with striation irregular to longitudinal, area between propodeal lobes always with transverse striation. Mesosoma dorsum with numerous thick, long, and straight setae. Petiole. In lateral view, with moderate peduncle, node high, with anterior face slightly concave, posterior face convex and dorsum wide and rounded. Peduncle and petiolar node shiny, with dense reticulation, dorsum with sparser and thicker reticulation. Dorsal surface bearing sparse, ling, thick, erect setae. Postpetiole. In lateral view, regularly convex, apical half with gently convex sides, on the whole surface shiny, with dense reticulation, dorsum with microreticulation thicker and sparser. Dorsal surface bearing sparse, long, erect setae. Gaster. Shiny and smooth, bearing numerous erect, thin, pale setae.

Type Material

 * Lectotype (designated by Salata & Borowiec, 2019: 54), top of the pin (w.): Piles | Scarpanto | 22.iv.1934 | C. Menozzi || M. oertzeni | v. carpathus | Typus! Menoz. | Menozzi deter. (DSAB).
 * Paralectotypes (2w.): two other workers on the same pin.

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.
 * Menozzi C. 1929. Ricerche faunistiche nelle isole italiane dell'Egeo. Imenotteri (formiche). Archivio Zoologico Italiano. 13: 145-146.
 * Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2018. Taxonomic and faunistic notes on Greek ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-51.
 * Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2019. Preliminary contributions toward a revision of Greek Messor Forel, 1890 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Turkish Journal of Zoology 43: 52-67.