Messor muticus: 9 Facts About the Harvester Ant That Got Its Name Back

Nov 1

3 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Messor muticus is a harvester ant from the steppes of Eastern Europe and western Asia. It looks like an ordinary brown seed ant, but its story is surprisingly complicated: it was described, lost under another name for more than a century, and recognised again only in 2018. Here are 9 facts about Messor muticus.

1. It was described in 1849

The species was first described in 1849 by the Finnish entomologist Nylander, from ants collected in southern Russia. He placed it in a different genus and called it Myrmica mutica. The Latin word muticus means something like "blunt" or "without a point". Over the years it was moved to several other genera before ending up in Messor.

2. It disappeared under another name

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Messor muticus was not seen as a species of its own. It was lumped together with Messor structor, the name used for almost every harvester ant in central and eastern Europe.

3. One name turned out to be five species

In 2018, a team of researchers studied the DNA, body shape and climate preferences of harvester ants across Europe and Asia. Their study, titled "Turning one into five", showed that "Messor structor" was really a group of five species: Messor ibericus, Messor ponticus, Messor structor, Messor muticus and Messor mcarthuri. Messor muticus got its old name back.

4. It is very hard to tell apart

Messor muticus and Messor structor look almost identical. Muticus is usually a bit darker, and there are tiny differences, such as a small rounded lobe at the base of the antenna. Even with careful measurements and formulas, researchers could tell the two apart in only about 87 percent of cases. Where a harvester ant was found is often the best clue.

5. It is an eastern steppe ant

Messor muticus lives in the steppes and dry grasslands from Romania and Ukraine through southern Russia, Türkiye, Armenia and the Caucasus to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Its close relative Messor structor lives further west, and the two prefer different climates.

6. It probably split off at the edge of the range

The researchers think Messor muticus evolved from a small group of ants at the far eastern edge of the range of the ancestor of Messor structor. Isolated from the rest, that group slowly became a species of its own.

7. It bakes ant bread

Like other harvester ants, Messor muticus lives mainly on seeds. Workers store them in dry chambers called granaries, and chew the seeds into a paste that is often called ant bread. The leftover husks are carried out of the nest to a waste pile.

8. Its majors are living nutcrackers

A colony has workers in many sizes. The largest workers, the majors, have big heads full of muscle and strong jaws that crack open hard seeds. In a large colony they are strong enough to damage soft materials such as plaster.

9. Two queens rarely stay two

Young queens can start a colony together. A lab study from 2020 followed colonies that started with two queens. At first both queens laid eggs, but in the end almost every colony lost at least one queen: queens injured each other, and workers sometimes removed the extra one. The only colony that kept both queens had extra room and cooler conditions.

Keeping Messor muticus

Messor muticus is an easy species for beginners, as long as it has a quiet, vibration-free spot. Read our Messor muticus care guide or have a look at our Messor muticus colonies. Curious about its close relative? See the Messor structor care guide.