• [First available use of Messor barbarus meridionalis rufus Karavaiev, 1910; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
• Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929d: 7 (q.m.)
• As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1921c: 71.
• Subspecies of Messor minor: Santschi, 1927d: 240; Santschi, 1927e: 247
• Status as species: Santschi, 1923f: 326; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929b: 45; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929d: 6; Dlussky, 1962: 179; Arnol'di, 1977b: 1642 (in key); Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981: 147; Bolton, 1995b: 256; Schultz et al., 2006: 203; Borowiec et al., 2009: 378; Borowiec, 2014: 111 (see note in bibliography); Tohmé & Tohmé, 2014: 135.
• Senior synonym of Messor karawajevi: Arnol'di, 1977b: 1642 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 256; Schultz et al., 2006: 203.
• Senior synonym of Messor similis: Santschi, 1927e: 248; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929d: 6; Arnol'di, 1977b: 1642 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 256.
• Material of the unavailable name Messor barbarus clivorum karawayewi referred here by Emery, 1922d: 96; Santschi, 1927d: 240.

Junior synonyms

• Messor karawajevi Tarbinsky, 1976
• Messor similis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927

Obsolete combinations

• Messor barbarus rufus

Citations

• Arnol'di, K. V. 1977b. Review of the harvester ants of the genus Messor (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the fauna of the USSR. [In Russian.]. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 56:1637-1648. PDF
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp.
• Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25 (1-2):1-340. PDF
• Borowiec, M. L.; Borowiec, L.; Csősz, S.; Radchenko, A. 2009. Ants collected during 2006 Polish expedition to Kyrgyzstan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 20:367-379. PDF
• Dlussky, G. M. 1962. Ants of the northern slopes of the Talasskii Alatau range. [In Russian.]. Trudy Instituta Zoologii. Akademiya Nauk Kazakhskoi SSR 18:177-188. PDF
• Emery, C. 1921c. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [part]. Genera Insectorum 174A:1-94 + 7 plates. PDF
• Emery, C. 1922d. Messor barbarus (L.). Appunti de sinonimia e di sistematica. Bollettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 54:92-99. PDF
• Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, N. N. 1929b. Die Ameisenfauna Daghestans. Zoologischer Anzeiger 83:34-45. PDF
• Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, N. N. 1929d. The ants of the genus Messor in the fauna of Middle Asia. [In Russian.]. Acta Universitatis Asiae Mediae. Series VIIIa Zoologia 6:1-25. PDF
• Santschi, F. 1923f. Messor et autres fourmis paléarctiques. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 30:317-336. PDF
• Santschi, F. 1927d. Revision des Messor du groupe instabilis Sm. (Hymenopt.). Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural 27:225-250. PDF
• Santschi, F. 1927e. Révision myrmécologique. Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 67:240-248. PDF
• Schultz, R.; Radchenko, A.; Seifert, B. 2006. A critical checklist of the ants of Kyrgyzstan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8:201-207. PDF
• Tohmé, G.; Tohmé, H. 1981. Les fourmis du genre Messor en Syrie. Position systématique. Description de quelques ailés et de formes nouvelles. Répartition géographique. Ecologia Mediterranea 7(1):139-153. PDF
• Tohmé, G.; Tohmé, H. 2014. Nouvelle liste des espèces de fourmis du Liban (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea). Lebanese Science Journal 15 (1):133-141. PDF