Messor denticulatus Santschi

Iran list Type location Turkestan (Messor minor André stirps denticulatus (Kusnezow) = M. barbarus st. meridionalis v. denticulatus Kusnezow (Kuznetzov-Ugamsky, 1927a: 90, in key, published (30).iv.1927) = M. minor André st. laboriosus Santschi, 1927c: 240, illustrated, worker & queen, published (31).v.1927, in Bolton, 1995; listed in Santschi, 1927d: 247, published 10.xi.1927; raised to species by Tarbinsky, 1976: 61) Fergane Kdchb. Mackran, Kusnezow - see below.

Kuznetsov-Ugamsky's (1927a) description is at . Santschi's (1927c) description is at . Santschi (1927c) noted worker types received from M. Karavaiev under the name meridionalis and from Askhabad. Tarbinsky's (1976) illustrated revision is at .

The photomontage of the "type" major (?) worker is collated from https://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0913176. Not the Kuznetsov-Ugamsky holotype, although from the same locality. The latter gives size range TL 4-9 mm; alitrunk reddish, coxae darker, hind legs with fine hairs. Antweb has this as Messor laboriosus Santschi, with the comment "laboriosus has priority" attributed to "Barry Bolton, 2017". Kuznetsov-Ugamsky's (1927a) description is not mentioned.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Messor denticulatus B Taylor det.

Iran R Afshari 51

15.v.2014 31.57°N 51.53°E 2334 m

Mehr Gerd, Semirom, Isfahan hand collected mountain, garden 1700h

1

The photomontage is of a worker collected in Iran by R Afshari (51). The overall shape and size match the type shown above but the colour may be brighter, possibly due to the age of the type and the magenta tint characteristic of the Antweb imagery.