Messor mediosanguineus

Identification
Khalili-Moghadam et al. (2019) - Messor barbarus is distributed in the western part of the Mediterranean Basin east to Italy. It has long and dense, erect setae on the first gastral tergite and usually a red head (but some specimens have the head partly or completely black, or the whole body black) and a regularly rounded propodeum, whereas M. mediosanguineus has the head black, the mesosoma mostly reddish, the propodeum with two obtuse denticles and the first gastral tergite with only a few short, erect setae. Messor laboriosus differs from M. mediosanguineus in the more setose first gastral tergite and the reddish-brown head (black in M. mediosanguineus) and the yellowish to yellowish-brown legs (mostly black in M. mediosanguineus).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Iran, Turkey.

Nomenclature

 *  mediosanguineus. Messor barbarus subsp. mediosanguineus Donisthorpe, 1946a: 53 (s.w.) TURKEY.
 * Subspecies of barbarus: Donisthorpe, 1950e: 1060; Bolton, 1995b: 255.
 * Status as species: Borowiec, L. 2014: 109 (error); Khalili-Moghadam et al., 2019: 173.

Type Material
Salata & Borowiec (2019): paratype (w.): Paratype | barbarus | ssp. mediosanguineus | 1946 Donisthorpe || No. 224 || ANTWEB | CASENT0900484 || BMNH | 1013841 (BMNH).

Taxonomic Notes
Khalili-Moghadam et al. (2019) - This is the first certain record of M. mediosanguineus from Iran. A previous record of Messor denticulatus SANTSCHI, 1927 (now a junior synonym of Messor laboriosus SANTSCHI, 1927) from western Iran (PASHAEI RAD et al. 2018) probably concerns M. mediosanguineus. Messor laboriosus is a species with a more easterly distribution, widespread in Central Asia, and only the records from NE Iran are reliable. M. mediosanguineus is a more westerly species hitherto known only from Turkey. After studying the paratype preserved in the Museum of Natural History, London (available on AntWeb, specimen no. CASENT0900484), we concluded that it is a good species, not a subspecies of Messor barbarus (LINNAEUS, 1767). Messor mediosanguineus belongs to the complex of species close to Messor semirufus (ANDRÉ, 1883), very speciose and diverse in the Middle East, and requiring revision owing to the number of infraspecific names available in the nomenclature.