Messor intermedius

Identification
Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - HW 2.78; EL/HW 0.16-0.17. This is a brown species with the alitrunk sometimes dark red but never as dark as the gaster. It resembles Messor semirufus in the relatively small eye size but is distinguished by the coarse sculpture and much darker colour.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia. Palaearctic Region: Greece, Israel, Oman, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Turkmenistan.

Nomenclature

 *  intermedius. Messor semirufus var. intermedius Santschi, 1927c: 229 (w.) SYRIA. [First available use of Messor barbarus subsp. semirufus var. intermedia Forel, 1910a: 10; unavailable name.] Subspecies of semirufus: Menozzi, 1927e: 117. Junior synonym of semirufus: Baroni Urbani, 1974: 227. Revived from synonymy and raised to species: Arnol'di, 1977b: 1640 (in key). See also: Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, H. 1981: 142; Dlussky & Zabelin, 1985: 211.

Type Material
Salata & Borowiec (2019): syntype (w.): Messor | barbarus | subsp. semirufus | Andr. | v. intermedia | type | For || Typus || Doumar Syrie | (Kerville) 22 || Coll. | A. Forel || ANTWEB | CASENT0907736 (MHNG).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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 * Collingwood, C. A. and D. Agosti. 1996. Formicidae (Insects: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2) Fauna of Saudi Arabia 15: 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
 * Forel A. 1910. Glanures myrmécologiques. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 54: 6-32.
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 * 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.. "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.
 * Siberian Zoological Museum. Website available at http://szmn.sbras.ru/old/Hymenop/Formicid.htm. Accessed on January 27th 2014.
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 * 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.
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