Messor regalis (Emery)

Type location Nigeria (Cratomyrmex regalis n. sp., Emery, 1892d: 572, illustrated, queen, volume for 1891 but published in 1892; Santschi, 1913c: 307, illustrated,worker) type from Benue, supplied by Staudinger & Bang Haas, worker from Benin, middle Dahomey, Aguagua, collected by Roubaud - see below
junior synonyms
rubea (Cratomyrmex regalis Emery var. rubea v. nov., Santschi, 1913c: 308, worker) from Benin, collected in Lower Dahomey, no location, by Le Moult - see http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?code=casent0913212
sculpturatus (Cratomyrmex sculpturatus n. sp., Stitz, 1916: 377, illustrated, worker) from Congo, collected at Fort de Possel to Fort Crampel, by Schubotz - http://www.antweb.org/specimenImages.do?name=rmcaent000017749
(see Bolton, 1995) .

Emery's (1892d) description is at . Santschi's (1913c) description of the worker and of rubea is at ; his (1920d) placement of Cratomyrmex as a subgenus of Messor is at . Stizt's (1916) description of sculpturatus is at . Bolton's modern description (1982) is at .

WORKER - HW 3.0 (medium) - > 4.5 (Bolton, 1982: 352, not illustrated). TL ca 6-14 mm (J-m K). Dorsum of propodeum without standing hairs; sides of head with projecting hairs in full-face view; petiole and postpetiole coarsely, closely and deeply rugose.

In Bolton (1982) the reason for the type location confusion is revealed as his denotation of a lectotype female from Benue, Nigeria (collector Staudinger, no date, also in Wheeler, 1922). Bolton fails to cite Santschi (1913c) as the descriptor of the type worker, noting only the additional description of rubea; other Nigeria collections were N. Bussa, Kano State (J.T. Medler), Mokwa (C. Longhurst), and Olokemeji (Bridwell). Wheeler (1922) also listed Nigeria collections at Lagos and Olokemeji (F. Silvestri); plus Benin (Aguagua, by Roubaud).

Wheeler (1922) also had sculpturatus from Falls of the Nana River near Fort Crampel, "Congo" = Central African Republic, by Haberer.

Lévieux & Diomande (1982) reported findings on its food sources in Ivory Coast, where it is a species of the Sudan savannah in the north of the country. It forages over an area of 1300-1400 m² from the nest, is diurnally active with morning and evening peaks, prefers covered ground, and mostly utilises a tall grass species for its food.

The photomontage of the type queen is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0904142.

The photomontage of a worker from Nigeria, listed by Bolton (1982: 352) is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0281586