Veromessor

Veromessor consists of 10 species that are restricted to arid and semiarid habitats in the western United States and northwestern Mexico, with the exception of one species (V. lobognathus) that extends into the northcentral United States (Bennett, 2000; Bolton, 2020; Johnson, 2000b). All species are granivorous such that they collect a large variety and number of seeds and impact plant communities (Brown & Human, 1997; Davidson, 1977, 1978; Gordon, 1978; Rissing, 1988). Species of Veromessor have received considerable attention from ecologists and behaviorists because of their seed gathering activities combined with the fact that workers are docile and unable to sting. These studies mostly have focused on V. andrei and especially V. pergandei (Brown, 1999a, 1999b; Johnson, 1992, 2021; Muscedere, Helms Cahan, Helms, & Traniello, 2016; Rissing, 1987; Rissing & Pollock, 1987; Ryti & Case, 1988a), while biology is poorly known for other congeners, especially those with small colonies. (Johnson et al., 2022)

Nomenclature

 * VEROMESSOR [junior synonym of Messor]
 * Veromessor Forel, 1917: 235 [as subgenus of Novomessor]. Type-species: Aphaenogaster andrei, by subsequent designation of Emery, 1921f: 67.
 * Veromessor raised to genus: Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 661.
 * Veromessor senior synonym of Lobognathus: Brown, 1949a: 49.
 * Veromessor junior synonym of Messor: Bolton, 1982: 338.
 * Veromessor revived status as genus: Ward et al., 2014: 13.