Messor rugosus (André)

Type location Israel (Aphaenogaster barbara var rugosa, André, 1881b: 75, worker & male; raised to species Emery, 1908e: 458; illustration in Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981b) Jaffa - see below
subspecies
bodenheimeri (Messor rugosus ssp. bodenheimeri n. ssp., Menozzi, 1933b: 54, worker) from Israel, Chederah - see https://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0913215
crawleyi (Messor rugosus André stirps crawleyi Santschi, 1928f: 203, worker) from Egypt, El Faroukia, Mr C W Crawley - see below

André's (1881b) description is at . Santschi's (1928f) description of crawleyi is at . Menozzi's (1933b) description of bodenheimeri is at . Tohmé & Tohmé's notes (1981b) are collated on (they were wrong in giving Emery (1908e) as having an illustration].

Overall rugosus and aralocaspius (Ruzsky) [type location Russia (Aphaenogaster barbara var aralocaspia (Ruzsky, 1902c: 20, worker; Karavaiev, 1910b: 63, queen & male; Stitz, 1930: 240, queen; raised to species by Pisarski, 1967: 384), subspecies infumatus (Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927a: 91, in key, & 1929d: 19, worker; subspecies status Arnold'i, 1977b: 1642) from Kazakhstan; Bolton, 1995: 252], appear to be closely related. The general consensus (e.g Collingwood, 1985: 248) seems to be that the latter has the first funiculus segment distinctly broader and much longer than the second; that is not reflected in the Karavaiev figures (1910b: 30). The specimens shown below have the first and second funiculus segments of identical lengths and both are quite narrow; aralocaspius also has no teeth of any size on the propodeum. M. rugosus is not among the species reported from Saudi Arabia. The descriptions of rugosus, however, perhaps are confusing as they seem to describe only quite small workers. André (1881b) wrote of them as always small, TL 4-6 mm); the propodeum as unarmed or nearly so (as shown by Thomé & Thomé, 1981b).

The size of the two Antweb specimens shown below, TL ca 5 mm, suggests they are media wortkers.

The photomontage of a type media worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0915452

The photomontage of a cotype worker of crawleyi is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0901473

The photomontage is of a major worker from Kuwait, Camp Arifjan, 28°52'00"N 48°09'50"E, elev 42 m; 18.ix.2005; David King. Nest in soil along fence; nocturnal foragers. This may be my misidentification, note the short propodeal teeth (also shown in the Sharaf photographs, below).

The photomontage is of a minor worker from Kuwait, as above.

Egypt record - Santschi (1928f) from El Faroukia, Belbes, and El Gadaida, Minia Ganib, 5 workers, received from Mr C W Crawley (British Museum?), probably the same specimens were listed by Alfieri (1931). The photomontage is from originals taken by Mostafa Sharaf