Novomessor albisetosus

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Novomessor albisetosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Stenammini
Genus: Novomessor
Species: N. albisetosus
Binomial name
Novomessor albisetosus
(Mayr, 1886)

Aphaenogaster albisetosa casent0102824 profile 1.jpg

Aphaenogaster albisetosa casent0102824 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen Label

Synonyms

This is the second most common species of the genus in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States and northern México (after Novomessor cockerelli). Nests are usually found under stones with the entrance surrounded by gravel. These ants are very aggressive and although they cannot sting, their bite is irritating (Mackay and Mackay 2002).


Photo Gallery

  • Worker foraging, Wet Beaver Creek, Arizona on 8 March 2023. Photo by Gary D. Alpert.

Identification

This species can be distinguished from species of Aphaenogaster by the poorly marked metanotal suture, long legs and well-developed spines on the propodeum. Most workers can be distinguished from the closely related Novomessor cockerelli as they have a less elongate head. Specimens of these two species are often difficult to separate. It can be easily separated from the Mexican species Novomessor ensifer by the lack of a constricted neck.


Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 35.21667° to 23.8875°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (type locality).
Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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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.
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Biology

Habitats range from Chihuahuan Desert to oak forests. When found in arid ecosystems, it usually occurs in the bottoms of arroyos or in areas near water. The soil in these areas is often rocky with boulders.

Wheeler and Creighton (1934) - It is unlikely that anyone who has seen the nests of these insects could have failed to be impressed with their extraordinary coarseness of construction. There is not a single feature of the nest which does not appear abnormally large in view of the size of the insects themselves. The irregular central opening of the nest may be three or four inches across. Through this one looks down into a steeply descending, roughly constructed tunnel which more nearly resembles a rat's burrow than the entrance to an ant's nest. Around the central opening the insects ordinarily build a disc of very coarse gravel mixed with excavated soil. This disc may be six feet in diameter in Novomessor cockerelli but is usually smaller and sometimes absent in N. albisetosus. Toward the center of the disc there is often a thicker pile of soil and gravel which has been formed into a rude crater. Nests of albisetosus whick lack the disc and crater are generally constructed under stones but otherwise do not differ from the nests of the more common type.

During the summer months the foraging activities of these insects begin late in the afternoon and continue through the night hours.... As a rule by the middle of the morning the workers have returned to the nest where they remain during the midday hours. When foraging the workers do not form files. Each stalks slowly about in a deliberate manner, which gives it a ludicrous air of bland solemnity. It may be doubted if these insects are capable of quick movement since, even when disturbed, their best efforts at speed are neither rapid nor sustained. The workers show no particular preference for seeds since, in addition to these, they gather small bits of plant tissue, pieces of fruit, and the disarticulated parts of insects. The latter are probably secured from insects which are dead or in a moribund condition since the slow movements of Novomesser would scarcely permit successful predatism. Little if any of the various substances brought into the nest are stored there.

Host for Myrmecophilus manni.

Life History Traits

  • Queen number: polygynous (Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)
  • Mean colony size: 350 (Holldobler et al., 1978; Beckers et al., 1989)
  • Foraging behaviour: mass recruiter (Holldobler et al., 1978; Beckers et al., 1989)

Castes

MCZ-ENT00671755 Aphaenogaster albisetosa hef.jpgMCZ-ENT00671755 Aphaenogaster albisetosa hal.jpgMCZ-ENT00671755 Aphaenogaster albisetosa had.jpgMCZ-ENT00671755 Aphaenogaster albisetosa lbs.JPG
. Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Nomenclature

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

  • albisetosus. Aphaenogaster albisetosa Mayr, 1886d: 446 (w.) U.S.A. (New Mexico).
    • Type-material: 2 syntype workers.
    • Type-locality: U.S.A.: New Mexico (Norton?).
    • Type-depository: NHMW.
    • Wheeler, W.M. & Creighton, 1934: 350 (q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1953b: 70 (l.).
    • Combination in Stenamma (Aphaenogaster): Emery, 1895c: 306;
    • combination in Aphaenogaster (Ischnomyrmex): Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 565;
    • combination in Novomessor (Novomessor): Emery, 1921f: 67;
    • combination in Aphaenogaster: Brown, 1974b: 47;
    • combination in Novomessor: Emery, 1915d: 73; Demarco & Cognato, 2015: 8.
    • Status as species: Cresson, 1887: 260; Emery, 1895c: 306; Wheeler, W.M. 1910g: 565; Emery, 1915d: 73; Emery, 1921f: 66; Wheeler, W.M. & Creighton, 1934: 349; Cole, 1937a: 101; Enzmann, J. 1947b: 151 (in key); Brown, 1949a: 49; Creighton, 1950a: 155; Smith, M.R. 1951a: 799; Smith, M.R. 1958c: 119; Smith, M.R. 1967: 352; Brown, 1974b: 47; Hunt & Snelling, 1975: 21; Hölldobler, et al. 1976: 32; Hölldobler, et al. 1978: 163; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1360; Bolton, 1982: 340; Bolton, 1995b: 68; Mackay & Mackay, 2002: 72; Demarco & Cognato, 2015: 8; Mackay & Mackay, 2017: 445 (redescription).
    • Senior synonym of minor: Brown, 1949a: 49; Creighton, 1950a: 156; Smith, M.R. 1951a: 799; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1360; Bolton, 1995b: 68; Mackay & Mackay, 2017: 445.
    • Distribution: Mexico, U.S.A.
  • minor. Novomessor cockerelli var. minor Enzmann, J. 1947b: 148, pl. 8 (w.) U.S.A. (Texas).
    • Type-material: holotype worker, paratype workers (number not stated).
    • Type-locality: holotype U.S.A.: Texas, Corpus Christi (Enzmann).
    • Type-depository: unknown.
    • [Note: Enzmann says the holotype is “in my collection”; depositories of paratypes are not mentioned. For a comprehensive criticism of this taxon see Creighton, 1950a: 156.]
    • Junior synonym of albisetosa: Brown, 1949a: 49; Creighton, 1950a: 156; Smith, M.R. 1951a: 799; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1360; Bolton, 1995b: 71; Mackay & Mackay, 2017: 445.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Mayr 1886. Page 446.
Mayr 1886. Page 447.

Worker Morphology

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Worker Morphology data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • Caste: monomorphic

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Cover S. P., and R. A. Johnson. 20011. Checklist of Arizona Ants. Downloaded on January 7th at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/AZants-2011%20updatev2.pdf
  • Creighton W. S. 1955. Studies on the distribution of the genus Novomessor (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche (Cambridge) 62: 89-97.
  • Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
  • Johnson R. Personnal Database. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/resources.htm
  • Johnson, R.A. 2000. Reproductive biology of the seed-harvester ants Messor julianus (Pergande) and Messor pergandei (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Baja California, Mexico. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 9(2):377-384.
  • Mackay W. P., and E. E. Mackay. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 400 pp.
  • Moody J. V., and O. F. Francke. 1982. The Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Western Texas Part 1: Subfamily Myrmicinae. Graduate Studies Texas Tech University 27: 80 pp.
  • O'Keefe S. T., J. L. Cook, T. Dudek, D. F. Wunneburger, M. D. Guzman, R. N. Coulson, and S. B. Vinson. 2000. The Distribution of Texas Ants. The Southwestern Entomologist 22: 1-92.
  • Van Pelt, A. 1983. Ants of the Chisos Mountains, Texas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) . Southwestern Naturalist 28:137-142.
  • Wheeler W. M., and W. S. Creighton. 1934. A study of the ant genera Novomessor and Veromessor. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 69: 341-387.
  • Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1985. A checklist of Texas ants. Prairie Naturalist 17:49-64.
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