Extant: 4 valid subspecies
Aphaenogaster barbara var. aegyptiaca Emery, 1878c PDF: 57 (w.q.) EGYPT. Palearctic. AntCat AntWiki HOLTaxonomic history
Emery, 1908f PDF: 452 (m.); Athias-Henriot, 1947 PDF: 249 (l.).Combination in Aphaenogaster (Messor): Forel, 1890b PDF: lxix; Ruzsky, 1905b: 751.Combination in Stenamma (Messor): Forel, 1902a PDF: 148.Combination in Messor: Emery, 1908f PDF: 451.As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1891c: 12; Forel, 1894d PDF: 31; Forel, 1902a PDF: 148; Forel, 1904d PDF: 5; Forel, 1907h PDF: 15.Subspecies of Messor capitatus: Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 101.Subspecies of Messor barbarus: Emery, 1878: 57; Emery, 1880 PDF: 393 (in text); Emery, 1881b PDF: 534; André, 1883b: 355; André, 1884f: 541; Forel, 1890b PDF: lxix; Forel, 1895e PDF: 233; Mayr, 1904b PDF: 6; Ruzsky, 1905b: 751; Emery, 1908f PDF: 451; Karavaiev, 1911b PDF: 4; Karavaiev, 1912a PDF: 9; Wheeler & Mann, 1916 PDF: 170; Emery, 1921c PDF: 70; Emery, 1922d PDF: 95; Donisthorpe, 1942a PDF: 27; Donisthorpe, 1947f PDF: 109.Status as species: Santschi, 1923f PDF: 320; Santschi, 1929e PDF: 142; Finzi, 1930b PDF: 14; Menozzi, 1934: 158; Santschi, 1934d PDF: 273; Finzi, 1936 PDF: 157; Santschi, 1938a PDF: 31; Santschi, 1939d PDF: 69; Finzi, 1940 PDF: 157; Athias-Henriot, 1947 PDF: 249; Bernard, 1953a PDF: 141 (redescription); Délye, 1960 PDF: 261; Cagniant, 1964 PDF: 87; Cagniant, 1970a PDF: 416; Bernard, 1971: 7; Baroni Urbani, 1976b PDF: 210; Kugler, 1988: 257; Bolton, 1995b: 252; Cagniant & Espadaler, 1998 PDF: 428; Cagniant, 2006 PDF: 197; Vonshak & Ionescu-Hirsch, 2009 PDF: 42; Borowiec, 2014 PDF: 101 (see note in bibliography); Barech et al., 2020 10.35929/RSZ.0002 PDF: 15.
