Messor meridionalis

The taxonomic identity of Messor meridionalis is uncertain (it is a species dubium), its type series probably contains specimens belonging to the more than one species. Most records of M. meridionalis probably concern Messor wasmanni (Borowiec, 2014).

Identification
André (1883b) - "Var. meridionalis. Entièrement noire ou brun de poix avec le thorax d'un rouge obscur. Taille moyenne. Tète plus ou moins luisante, parfois légèrement striée ; pronotum transversalement ridé ; metanotum à peine denté." [=Var. meridionalis. Entirely black or pitch brown with dark red thorax. Midsized. Head more or less shiny, sometimes slightly striated; pronotum transversely wrinkled; barely toothed metanotum.]

Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - HW 2.3-2.6; EL/HW 0.204-0.223. This bicoloured species known from Afghanistan (Pisarki 1967) and most of the countries of the Middle East including Iraq and Iran is immediately distinguishable from Messor semirufus, Messor wasmanni and other superficially similar species by its relatively large eyes. In museum collections several different species are placed under the name M meridionalis so that there is uncertainty as to which species this name should apply.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates. Palaearctic Region: Afghanistan, Albania, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Montenegro, Oman, Republic of Macedonia, Turkey.

It is known from Central Asia and the Middle East (Abdul-Rassoul et al. 2013).

Nomenclature

 * . Aphaenogaster barbara var. meridionalis André, 1883b: 355 (w.) GREECE, ALBANIA, TURKEY, ALGERIA, TUNISIA.
 * Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
 * Type-localities: Greece, Albania, Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia (no further data).
 * Type-depository: MNHN.
 * [Note: Santschi, 1927c: 230, says the Greek syntypes cannot be found.]
 * Ruzsky, 1905b: 747 (q.m.); Emery, 1908e: 450 (q.).
 * Combination in Aphaenogaster (Messor): Forel, 1890a: lxx; Ruzsky, 1905b: 746;
 * combination in Stenamma (Messor): Emery, 1898c: 125;
 * combination in Messor: Emery, 1897f: 239; Emery, 1908e: 450.
 * As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1891b: 12; Forel, 1904b: 373; Forel, 1904c: 15; Ruzsky, 1905b: 746; Forel, 1906c: 190; Emery, 1922c: 94; Karavaiev, 1926b: 100; Santschi, 1926f: 287.
 * Subspecies of capitatus: Dalla Torre, 1893: 101.
 * Subspecies of barbarus: Forel, 1886e: clxviii; Forel, 1890a: lxx; Emery, 1898c: 125; Emery, 1901e: 57; Ruzsky, 1902d: 28; Ruzsky, 1903b: 315; Emery, 1908d: 23; Emery, 1908e: 450; Forel, 1910a: 24; Santschi, 1910a: 43; Karavaiev, 1910a: 270; Karavaiev, 1910b: 64; Forel, 1911d: 346; Emery, 1912f: 97; Karavaiev, 1912a: 9; Krausse, 1912b: 164; Emery, 1914d: 156; Wheeler, W.M. & Mann, 1916: 170; Emery, 1916b: 142; Karavaiev, 1916: 507; Santschi, 1917e: 90; Stitz, 1917: 343; Santschi, 1921a: 110; Menozzi, 1921: 26; Emery, 1921b: 208; Emery, 1921f: 71; Finzi, 1923: 3; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1923: 256; Viehmeyer, 1923: 87; Ruzsky, 1923: 5; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927a: 90 (in key); Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929b: 45; Donisthorpe, 1950e: 1060.
 * Subspecies of instabilis: Santschi, 1923f: 325 (in text).
 * Subspecies of semirufus: Santschi, 1927c: 230; Kutter, 1927: 99; Finzi, 1928c: 788; Finzi, 1930c: 22; Santschi, 1934d: 275; Grandi, 1935: 100; Menozzi, 1936d: 276; Finzi, 1939c: 155; Santschi, 1939c: 6; Novák & Sadil, 1941: 82 (in key).
 * Subspecies of minor: Arnol'di, 1948: 211 (in list).
 * Junior synonym of semirufus: Baroni Urbani, 1974: 227.
 * Junior synonym of caducus: Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 121; Arakelian, 1994: 34; Bolton, 1995b: 255.
 * Status as species: Bondroit, 1918: 155; Müller, 1923a: 68; Müller, 1923b: 64; Cori & Finzi, 1931: 238; Collingwood, 1961a: 58; Collingwood, 1961b: 289; Baroni Urbani, 1964a: 2; Pisarski, 1967: 384; Baroni Urbani, 1968b: 434; Pisarski, 1970: 306; Baroni Urbani, 1971c: 59; Collingwood, 1978: 81 (in key); Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. 1981: 144; Collingwood, 1985: 251; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 54; Poldi, et al. 1995: 3; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 318; Werner & Wiezik, 2007: 148; Gratiashvili & Barjadze, 2008: 139; Paknia, et al. 2008: 155; Vonshak, et al. 2009: 42; Legakis, 2011: 10; Collingwood, et al. 2011: 426; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 19; Borowiec, L. 2014: 109; Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 134; Lebas, et al. 2016: 300.
 * Distribution: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates.
 * [Note: the distribution list is merely a compilation from the literature which almost certainly does not reflect taxonomic reality.]

Taxonomic Notes
Borowiec & Salata (2020): This taxon is species dubium. According to the original description (André 1883), it was described from specimens belonging to more than one species. Location of types is unknown and before their study and designation of the lectotype the status of this species is uncertain. Recent authors assigned records of Messor meridionalis from Europe, Turkey and the Middle East to Messor wasmanni.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Abdul-Rassoul M. S., H. B. Ali, and R. SH. Augul. 2013. New Records of Unidentified Ants worker (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) stored in Iraqi Natural History Museum with key to Species. Adv. Biores., Vol 4 (2): 27-33.
 * 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
 * Al-Khalifa M. S., A. M. Ahmed, A. M. A. Mashaly, F. A. Al-Mekhafi, G. K. M. Iqbal Siddiqui, and M. Fadl Ali. 2010. Studies on the Distribution of Pachycondyla sennaarensis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) in Saudi Arabia. 1. Ar-Riyadh Region. Pakistan J. Zool. 42(6): 707-713.
 * Aldawood AS, Sharaf MR (2011) Monomorium dryhimi sp. n., a new ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the M. monomorium group from Saudi Arabia, with a key to the Arabian Monomorium monomorium-group. ZooKeys 106: 4754. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.106.139
 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Cecconi G. 1908. Contributo alla fauna delle Isole Tremiti. Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparata della Reale Università di Torino 23(583): 1-53.
 * Collingwood C. A. 1985. Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 7: 230-302.
 * Collingwood C. A., D. Agosti, M. R. Sharaf, A. Van Harten, 2011. Order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae. Arthropod Fauna of the UAE 4: 405-474
 * Collingwood C.A., D.Agosti, M.R. Sharaf, and A. van Harten. 2011. Order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae. Arthropod fauna of the UAE, 4: 405474
 * Collingwood, C. A., and Donat Agosti. "Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2)." Fauna of Saudi Arabia 15 (1996): 300-385.
 * 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
 * Donisthorpe, H.. "A first instalment of the ants of Turkey." Annals and Magazine of Natural History (12)3 (1950): 1057-1067.
 * Emery C. 1897. Anhang. Verzeichniss der auf der zweiten Reise nach Kleinasien (1897) gesammelten Ameisen, mit einer Neubeschreibung. P. 239 in: Escherich, K. 1897. Zur Kenntniss der Myrmecophilen Kleinasiens. I. Coleoptera. Wiener Entomologische Zeitung 16: 229-239.
 * Emery C. 1916. Fauna entomologica italiana. I. Hymenoptera.-Formicidae. Bullettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 47: 79-275.
 * Emery, C.. "Alcune formiche dell'isola di Creta." Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. Resoc. Adun. 26 (1894): 7-10.
 * Emery, C.. "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der palaearktischen Ameisen." Öfversigt af Finska Vetenskaps-Societetens Förhandlingar (Helsinki) 20 (1898): 124-151.
 * Emery, C.. "Beiträge zur Monographie der Formiciden des paläarktischen Faunengebietes. (Hym.) Teil III. Messor, Goniomma, Oxyopomyrmex." Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 1908 (1908): 437-465.
 * Emery, C.. "Spicilegio mirmecologico." Bollettino della Societa Entomologica Italiana 33 (1901): 57-63.
 * Finzi, B.. "Risultati scientifici della spedizione Ravasini-Lona in Albania. III. Formiche." Bollettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 55 (1923): 1-4.
 * Forel A. 1904. Miscellanea myrmécologiques. Rev. Suisse Zool. 12: 1-52.
 * Forel A. 1911. Fourmis nouvelles ou intéressantes. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 47: 331-400.
 * Forel, A.. "Miscellanea myrmécologiques." Revue Suisse de Zoologie 12 (1904): 1-52.
 * Forel, A.. "Nouvelles fourmis de Grèce récoltées par M. E. von Oertzen." Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 30 (1886): clix-clxviii.
 * Grandi G. 1935. Contributi alla conoscenza degli Imenotteri Aculeati. XV. Boll. R. Ist. Entomol. Univ. Studi Bologna 8: 27-121.
 * Gratiashvili N., Barjadze S. 2008. Checklist of the ants (Formicidae Latreille, 1809) of Georgia. Proceedings of the Institute of Zoology (Tbilisi) 23: 130-146.
 * Karaman M. G. 2009. An introduction to the ant fauna of Macedonia (Balkan Peninsula), a check list (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Natura Montenegrina 8(3): 151-162.
 * Karavaiev V. 1911. Ameisen aus Transkaspien und Turkestan. Tr. Rus. Entomol. Obshch. 39: 1-72.
 * Kiran K., and C. Karaman. 2012. First annotated checklist of the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3548: 1-38.
 * Legakis A. 1983. Aspects of the distribution of ants in an insular mediterranean ecosystem (Cyclades Is., Greece) Rapports et Procès-Verbaux des Réunions de la Commission Internationale pour l'Exploration Scientifique de la Mer Méditerranée. Monaco 28: 121-122.
 * Legakis A. 1983. The Zoological Museum of the University of Athens 2. The collection of ants from Greece. Biologia Gallo-Hellenica 11(1): 85-87.
 * Legakis A. 1989. Aspects of the distribution of ants in an insular mediterranean ecosystem (Cyclades Isl., Greece). Rev. Ecol. Biol. Sol. 26 (3): 363-369.
 * Legakis Collection Database
 * Medina, M.. "Catálogo provisional de las hormigas de Andalucía." Actas de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural 20 (1891): 95-104.
 * Menozzi C. 1921. Formiche dei dintorni di Sambiase di Calabria. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici. 15: 24-32.
 * Paknia O., A. Radchenko, H. Alipanah, and M. Pfeiffer. 2008. A preliminary checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Iran. Myrmecological News 11: 151-159.
 * Petrov I. Z. 2008. Notes on the currently known ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Montenegro. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum 1: 243-254.
 * Pisarski B. 1967. Fourmis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) d'Afghanistan récoltées par M. Dr. K. Lindberg. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 24: 375-425.
 * Poldi B., M. Mei, and F. Rigato. 1995. Hymenoptera, Formicidae. Vol 102. Checklist delle specie della fauna Italiana: 1-10.
 * Ruzsky, M. 1923. Ants of Cheleken Island. Izv. Tomsk. Gos. Univ. 72(2nd p part: 1-6
 * Santschi F. 1926. Travaux scientifiques de l'Armée d'Orient (1916-1918). Fourmis. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle 32: 286-293.
 * 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.. "Fourmis d'une croisière." Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Bruxelles) 74 (1934): 273-282.
 * Santschi, F.. "Notes sur les fourmis paléarctiques. II. Fourmis d'Asie Mineure récoltées par M. H. Gadeau de Kerville." Boletín de la Real Sociedad española de Historia natural (Madrid) 21 (1921): 110-116.
 * 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.
 * Santschi, F.. "Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.)." Boletín de la Real Sociedad española de Historia natural (Madrid) 27 (1927): 225-250.
 * Santschi, F.. "Trois notes sur quelques fourmis du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique." Bulletin du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique 15 (1939): 1-15.
 * Sharaf M. R., B. L. Fisher, H. M. Al Dhafer, A. Polaszek, and A. S. Aldawood. 2018. Additions to the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Oman: an updated list, new records and a description of two new species. Asian Myrmecology 10: e010004
 * 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.
 * Wheeler W. M. and W. M. Mann. 1916. The ants of the Phillips Expedition to Palestine during 1914. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 60: 167-174.
 * Wheeler W. M., and W. M. Mann. 1916. The ants of the Phillips Expedition to Palestine during 1914. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 60: 167-174.