Novomessor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Novomessor |
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| A Novomessor cockerelli worker ant | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Stenammini |
| Genus: | Novomessor Emery, 1915 |
| Type species | |
| Aphaenogaster cockerelli, now Novomessor cockerelli |
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| Diversity | |
| 3 species | |
Novomessor is a special group of ants, known as a genus, that lives in the hot deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. These ants were first described by an Italian scientist named Carlo Emery in 1915. He was an entomologist, which means he studied insects.
For a long time, scientists thought Novomessor ants were actually part of another ant group called Aphaenogaster. This is like thinking two different types of cars are the same model. But in 2015, a detailed scientific study looked closely at their family tree. This study, called a phylogenetic study, showed that Novomessor ants are truly unique and different. Because of this, they were recognized again as their own separate group! Today, we know of three different kinds, or species, of Novomessor ants.
Types of Novomessor Ants
There are currently three known species within the Novomessor genus:
- Novomessor albisetosus (Mayr, 1886)
- Novomessor cockerelli (André, 1893)
- Novomessor ensifer (Forel, 1899)
