Messor marocanus

Messor marocanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Stenammini
Genus:	Messor
Species:	M. marocanus
Binomial name
Messor marocanus Santschi, 1927 Specimen Labels

This ant is preyed upon by numerous spider species in the genus Zodarion (Araneae: Zodariidae). All members of this genus are specialized ant predators that exclusively prey on ants. (Pekár et al. 2018)

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Iberian Peninsula Messor species

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Gibraltar, Iberian Peninsula, Morocco (type locality), Portugal, Spain.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Castes

• The following images are provided by AntWeb
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Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's New General Catalogue, a catalogue of the world's ants.

• marocanus. Messor minor st. marocanus Santschi, 1927c: 248 (in key) (w.) MOROCCO. [First available use of Messor barbarus subsp. meridionalis var. maroccana Emery, 1908e: 451; unavailable name.] Cagniant & Espadaler, 1998: 426 (m.); Gómez & Espadaler, 2005: 25 (q.). Subspecies of instabilis: Santschi, 1929e: 142. Raised to species: Collingwood & Yarrow, 1969: 64.

References

• Cagniant, H.; Espadaler, X. 1998 [1997]. Le genre Messor au Maroc (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. (n.s.) 33: 419-434 (page 426, male described)
• Collingwood, C. A.; Yarrow, I. H. H. 1969. A survey of Iberian Formicidae (Hymenoptera). EOS. Rev. Esp. Entomol. 44: 53-101 (page 64, Raised to species)
• Emery, C. 1908f. Beiträge zur Monographie der Formiciden des paläarktischen Faunengebietes. (Hym.) Teil III. Dtsch. Entomol. Z. 1908: 437-465 (page 451, First available use of Messor barbarus subsp. meridionalis var. maroccana; unavailable name.)
• Gómez, K; Espadaler, X. 2005. Description of the queen caste in Messor marocanus Santschi, 1927 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecol. Nachr. 7: 25-29 (page 25, queen described)
• Pekar, S., L. Petrakova, O. Sedo, S. Korenko, and Z. Zdrahal. 2018. Trophic niche, capture efficiency and venom profiles of six sympatric ant-eating spider species (Araneae: Zodariidae). Molecular Ecology. 27:1053-1064. doi:10.1111/mec.14485
• Santschi, F. 1927d. Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.). Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 27: 225-250 (page 248, (in key) worker described)
• Santschi, F. 1929e. Fourmis du Maroc, d'Algérie et de Tunisie. Bull. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 69: 138-165 (page 142, Stirps of instabilis)