Messor ants are among the strangest insects in Europe. Some queens reproduce through xenoparity – laying eggs that hatch into a different species altogether rather than their own. They’re also notorious for cryptic diversity – many species look almost identical to the naked eye but are genetically distinct, making them a persistent headache for taxonomists.
Now, an international team of researchers has added a new name to the list. The newly described species, Messor odrysarum, was found nesting along dirt roads within oak forests and open grasslands in the Eastern Rhodopes region of Bulgaria, at elevations up to 647m. The findings were published in the scientific journal ZooKeys.
The newly identified ant was named after the ancient Thracian state of Odrysia, whose historical geographical borders included the region where it was found.
The species belongs to the Messor genus, a group of ants prized ecologically for their role as grain collectors in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Through meticulous morphological analysis and DNA barcoding, researchers confirmed it sits within the Messor structor species group.
It’s closely related to the Balkan-Anatolian species Messor oertzeni, but a handful of physical traits set it apart: a smaller body, uniform black colouration with occasional reddish hues, a head narrowed behind the eyes, longer and denser hairs, and a longer antennal scape.
The discovery brings Bulgaria’s total recognised Messor species to nine. Zooming out, the genus counts 134 recognised species worldwide, with the greatest diversity in North Africa and the Middle East. Within the Balkans, Greece and Bulgaria are the hotspots, with at least 16 and 8 species, respectively – though the taxonomic status of a few remains unresolved.
As well as introducing the new species, the research paper also provides a rare re-description of the queen caste (primary reproductive female) of the closely related Messor oertzeni species based on newly collected specimens. These new additions are another step in untangling the web of cryptic species and taxonomic complexities of the Messor genus.
Read the full findings here.
- Ant queens eat their own babies then recycle them to make new ones. Here's why
- “The cordyceps erupts from the ant’s head.” Deadly parasitic fungus infiltrates an ant’s body and mind in this BBC Planet Earth clip
Top image: Messor odrysarum sp. nov., gyne head. Credit: Lech Borowiec
