Messor himalayanus

Messor himalayanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Stenammini
Genus:	Messor
Species:	M. himalayanus
Binomial name
Messor himalayanus (Forel, 1902) Specimen Labels

Photo Gallery

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  Worker of Messor himalayanus carrying a grass seed to its nest. Photo by Aniruddha HD.
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  Worker and major of Messor himalayanus. Photo by Aniruddha HD.

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 56.355° to 30.7394°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India (type locality), Pakistan.
Palaearctic Region: Afghanistan, Türkiye.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Messor himalayanus. Worker (major/soldier). Specimen code casent0907719. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Syntype of Messor himalayanus. Worker. Specimen code casent0907720. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• himalayanus. Stenamma (Messor) barbarum r. himalayanum Forel, 1902c: 221 (s.w.q.m.) INDIA (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand).
  • Type-material: syntype workers, syntype queens, syntype males (numbers not stated).
  • Type-localities: India: Dharmsala (Sage), Dharmsala (Fulton), Kashmir (Lobinière), Mussories (Rothney), Ton’s Valley, 3500 ft (Smythies), Panjah, 5000 ft (Sage).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • [Stenamma (Messor) barbarum r. himalayanum Forel, 1901h: 61. Nomen nudum.]
  • [Misspelled as hymalayanus by Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927a: 89, Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929d: 15.]
  • Combination in Messor: Bingham, 1903: 279.
  • Subspecies of barbarus: Forel, 1903a: 695; Forel, 1904c: 25; Forel, 1904d: 175; Forel, 1906b: 86; Emery, 1908e: 454; Viehmeyer, 1914b: 40; Emery, 1921f: 70; Emery, 1922c: 95; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927a: 89 (in key); Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929d: 15; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 136.
  • Subspecies of structor: Santschi, 1923f: 320 (in text).
  • Status as species: Bingham, 1903: 279; Stärcke, 1935: 261; Menozzi, 1939a: 297; Eidmann, 1942: 245; Collingwood, 1961a: 60; Pisarski, 1967: 383; Pisarski, 1970: 306; Arnol'di, 1977b: 1643 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 254; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 19; Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 38; Rasheed, et al. 2019: 432.
  • Distribution: Afghanistan, India, Mongolia, Pakistan.

Description

Worker

Bodlah et al, (2019): Head somewhat shiny, rectangular, longer than width with emarginated frontal carina, without ocelli, and finely longitudinally striated. Eyes longer than broader placed in the middle of head. Clypeus finely longitudinally striated forming a triangular shape with distinct clypeal carina. Mandibles striated longitudinally and reddish brown. Scape of antennae shorter than top of head, flagellum slightly thickened toward apex. Pronotum broader than meso and metanotum, mesonotum slightly raised metanotum transversally striated and bidentate. Petiole slightly longer in length than width having reticulate striation. Gaster smooth, highly polished having yellowish erect hairs.

Coloration: Major. Whole body black and shiny. Mandibles brownish| Medial. Body is not black shinning| Minor. A little black, shining than medial.

Measurements (mm) worker: Total length 4.5-8.5 mm; Head length 1.4-2.0 mm; Head width 0.27-2.2 mm(including eyes in width); Eye length 0.2-0.4 mm; Eye width 0.17-0.27 mm; Prothorax width 0.8-1.2 mm; Thorax length 1.8-2.3 mm; Petiole length: 0.56-0.85 mm; Petiole height: 0.52-0.62; Petiole width: 0.4-0.6 mm; Post petiole length: 0.3-0.4 mm; Post petiole width: 0.3-0.5 mm; Post petiole height: 0.67-0.70 mm; Scape length: 1.1-1.5 mm; Cephalic index: 90.90-518; Scape index 1: 75-78.57; Scape index 2: 68.18-407.40; Petiole index: 107.69-137.0; Post petiole index: 44.77-57.14.

Bingham (1903):

Major: Black, shining, the mandibles reddish brown, the flagellum of the antennae and the legs castaneous. the scape fuscous brown. Head very finely longitudinally striate; thorax more coarsely and irregularly rugose striate; the mesonotum. apex of the metanotum. and the abdomen smooth and shining, the sides and base of the metanotum and the nodes of the pedicel coarsely transversely rugose. Pilosity abundant, setiform, of a clear yellowish white, very conspicuous. For the rest the characters of the genus.

Medial: Closely resembles the major worker, but differs in being smaller, and in the sculpture of the head and thorax, but especially of the latter, being much finer and closer, giving the whole insect a much more opaque appearance; the metaanotal spines or teeth are smaller and feebler.

Minor: Resembles the medial worker. but is considerably smaller and a little more shining, the very fine striation of the head seems almost obsolete in certain lights. Thorax subopaque, metanotum transversely striate, metanotal teeth obsolete.

Length: 4 - 10 mm

Queen

Bingham (1903): Of very large size, larger than the major worker. but resembling it. Head finely longitudinally striate on the front, the striae strongly divergent outwards above the vertex; the head above and the occiput covered with large shallow punctures over the striae; mandibles coarsely longitudinally striate and pubescent; antennae pubescent. Thorax: the pronotum transversely striate: the mesonotum. scutellum and abdomen smooth, polished, shining, with a few scattered punctures; metanotum and nodes of pedicel coarsely transversely rugose; legs very slender; wings brownish hyaline. For the rest the characters of the genus.

Length: 14 mm

Male

Bingham (1903): Head anteriorly irregularly sculptured and opaque, posteriorly smooth and shining, with a few vague irregular striae and punctures; thorax on the sides, the metanotum and the nodes of the pedicel more or less irregularly rugose, the remainder of the thorax and abdomen smooth, polished and shining. Legs long and slender, wings as in the queen. For the rest the characters of the genus.

Length: 10 mm

References

• Arnol'di, K. V. 1977b. Review of the harvester ants of the genus Messor (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the fauna of the USSR. Zool. Zh. 5 56: 1637-1648 (page 1643, Status as species)

• Bingham, C. T. 1903. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera, Vol. II. Ants and Cuckoo-wasps. London: Taylor and Francis, 506 pp. (page 279, Combination in Messor, and raised to species.)

• Bodlah, I., Rasheed, M.T., Huang, X., Bodlah, M.A. 2019. First records of two species of genus Messor Forel, 1890 (Fromicidae: Myrmecinae) along with trophic associations with aphids from Pakistan. The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 29(4): 2019.
• Collingwood, C. A. 1961a [1960]. The third Danish Expedition to Central Asia. Zoological Results 27. Formicidae (Insecta) from Afghanistan. Vidensk. Medd. Dan. Naturhist. Foren. 123: 51-79.

• Emery, C. 1922d. Messor barbarus (L.). Appunti de sinonimia e di sistematica. Boll. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 54: 92-99 (page 95, Subspecies/race of barbarus)

• Forel, A. 1902c. Myrmicinae nouveaux de l'Inde et de Ceylan. Rev. Suisse Zool. 10: 165-249 (page 221, soldier, worker, queen, male described)

• Forel, A. 1904e. Fourmis du Musée de Bruxelles. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 48: 168-177 (page 175, Subspecies/race of barbarus)

• Kiran, K., Karaman, C. 2020. Additions to the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Zoosystema 42(18), 285-329 (doi:10.5252/zoosystema2020v42a18).
• Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, N. N. 1929d. The ants of the genus Messor in the fauna of Middle Asia. Acta Univ. Asiae Mediae Ser. 8A Zool. 6: 1-25 (page 15, Subspecies/race of barbarus)

• Menozzi, C. 1939a. Formiche dell'Himalaya e del Karakorum raccolte dalla Spedizione italiana comandata da S. A. R. il Duca di Spoleto (1929). Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano 78: 285-345 (page 297, Status as species)

• Rasheed, M.T., Bodlah, I., Fareen, A.G., Wachkoo, A.A., Huang, X., Akbar, S.A. 2019. A checklist of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Pakistan. Sociobiology 66(3), 426-439 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v66i3.4330).
• Stärcke, A. 1935a. Zoologie. Formicidae. Wiss. Ergeb. Niederl. Exped. Karakorum 1: 260-269 (page 261, Status as species)

• Viehmeyer, H. 1914b. Neue und unvollständig bekannte Ameisen der alten Welt. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 79 (A.12) (1913): 24-60. (page 40, Subspecies/race of barbarus)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Bharti H., B. Guénard, M. Bharti, & E. P. Economo. 2015. An updated checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of India with their specific distributions in Indian states. Zookeys
• Bharti H., Y. P. Sharma, M. Bharti, and M. Pfeiffer. 2013. Ant species richness, endemicity and functional groups, along an elevational gradient in the Himalayas. Asian Myrmecology 5: 79-101.
• Bodlah I., M. T. Rasheed, X. Huang, A. Gull-E-Fareen, J. A. Siddiqui, and M. A. Bodlah. 2019. First records of two species of genus Messor Forel, 1890 (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) along with trophic associations with aphids from Pothwar Region, Pakistan. The J. Anim. Plant Sci. 29(4): 7 pages.
• Chhotani O. B., and K. K. Ray. 1976. Fauna of Rajasthan, India, Hymenoptera. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 71: 13-49.
• Collingwood C. A. 1961. The third Danish Expedition to Central Asia. Zoological Results 27. Formicidae (Insecta) from Afghanistan. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening 123: 51-79.
• Forel A. 1901. Formiciden des Naturhistorischen Museums zu Hamburg. Neue Calyptomyrmex-, Dacryon-, Podomyrma- und Echinopla-Arten. Mitt. Naturhist. Mus. Hambg. 18: 43-82.
• Forel A. 1902. Myrmicinae nouveaux de l'Inde et de Ceylan. Rev. Suisse Zool. 10: 165-249.
• Forel A. 1903. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part X. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 14: 679-715.
• Forel A. 1906. Les fourmis de l'Himalaya. Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 42: 79-94.
• Gupta S. K. 2004. Insecta: Hymenoptera: Aculeata. Some selected fauna of Gobind Pashu Vihar, Conservation Area Series, 18 : 21-2.
• Menozzi C. 1939. Formiche dell'Himalaya e del Karakorum raccolte dalla Spedizione italiana comandata da S. A. R. il Duca di Spoleto (1929). Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano. 78: 285-345.
• Pajni H. R., and R. K. Suri. 1978. First report on the Formicid fauna (Hymenoptera) of Chandigarh. Res. Bull. (Science) Punjab University 29: 5-12.
• Pisarski B. 1967. Fourmis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) d'Afghanistan récoltées par M. Dr. K. Lindberg. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 24: 375-425.
• Presty J., and K.A. Karmaly. 2012. Taxonomic redescription of Messor himalayanus Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), new report from South India. Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology 1(1): 19-21.
• Rasheed M. T., I. Bodlah, A. G. Fareen, A. A. Wachkoo, X. Huang, and S. A. Akbar. 2019. A checklist of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Pakistan. Sociobiology 66(3): 426-439.
• Tak N. 1995. Studies on ants (Formicidae) of Rajasthan - 1 Jodhpur. Hexapoda 7(1): 17-28.
• Tak N. 2000. Studies on ants (Formicidae) of Rajasthan - III. Banswara. Entomon 25:97-101.
• Tak N. 2009. Ants Formicidae of Rajasthan. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper No. 288, iv, 46 p
• Tak N. 2009. Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae. Faunal Resources of Tal Chhapar Wildlife sanctuary. Conservation Area Series 38: 23-28.
• Tak N., and N. S. Rathore. 1996. Ant (Formicidae) fauna of the Thar Desert. Pp. 271-276 in: Ghosh, A. K.; Baqri, Q. H.; Prakash, I. (eds.) 1996. Faunal diversity in the Thar Desert: gaps in research. Jodhpur: Scientific Publishers, xi + 410 pp.
• Tak N., and N. S. Rathore. 2004. Insecta: Hymenoptera. Rathore, N.S. Fauna of Desert National Park Rajasthan (proposed biosphere reserve). Conservation Area Series 19,Zool. Surv. India. 1-135. Chapter pagination: 81-84.
• Tak N., and S. L. Kazmi. 2011. On a collection of Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae from Uttarakhand. Rec. zool. Surv. India : 111(2) : 39-49.
• Tak, N. 2009. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan and Gujarat. in C. Sivaperuman et al. (eds.), Faunal Ecology and Conservation of the Great Indian Desert