Workers are several millimetres long, with size variation within the colony.
Fine-art photographic collection
Messor desertora
An ant that helps a leafless parasitic plant find the underground roots it must infect in order to survive.
About this species
Messor desertoraHe & Song, 2009
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Messor desertora is a seed-harvesting ant of north-western Chinese deserts. It participates in an unusual dispersal partnership involving the holoparasitic plant Cynomorium songaricum, its host shrub and a darkling beetle.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Messor
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Deserts of north-western ChinaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Deserts of north-western China
Arid shrubland around Nitraria host plants.
Forages on the ground, especially when seeds and fruits are available.
Seeds and other plant material, supplemented by arthropod food.
Social colonies with workers of different sizes.
What makes this species remarkable?
Cynomorium seeds emit a distinctive volatile signal that attracts Messor desertora — a seed without leaves or flowers is effectively advertising itself chemically to an ant.
The ant moves the seeds towards Nitraria shrubs, precisely the neighbourhood the parasitic seed needs because it can germinate successfully only after reaching a suitable host root.
The system is a multi-species relay: beetles can swallow and defecate viable seeds, then ants continue transport, giving a completely leafless desert plant animal-assisted dispersal twice over.
Sources and scientific references
More photographs
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