• Melissotarsus in Ponerinae: Emery, 1901b: 36.
• Melissotarsus in Myrmicinae: Dalla Torre, 1893: 74 [Myrmicinae]; Emery, 1896e: 181; Emery, 1911e: 2 (footnote).
• Melissotarsus in Myrmicinae, Solenopsidini: Forel, 1893b: 164; Emery, 1895l: 770; Emery, 1896e: 181; Wheeler, 1910a: 141.
• Melissotarsus in Myrmicinae, Melissotarsini: Ashmead, 1905c: 383; Emery, 1914e: 40; Arnold, 1916: 188; Forel, 1917: 242; Emery, 1922c: 119; Wheeler, 1922: 661; subsequent authors; Bolton, 1995b: 35; Bolton, 2003: 257.
• Melissotarsus in Myrmicinae, Crematogastrini: Ward et al., 2015: 77.
• Melissotarsus in Myrmicinae, Crematogastrini, Carebara genus group: Blaimer et al., 2018: 7.
• Melissotarsus as genus: all authors.

Citations

• Arnold, G. 1916. A monograph of the Formicidae of South Africa. Part II. Ponerinae, Dorylinae. Annals of the South African Museum 14:159-270. PDF
• Ashmead, W. H. 1905c. A skeleton of a new arrangement of the families, subfamilies, tribes and genera of the ants, or the superfamily Formicoidea. Canadian Entomologist 37:381-384. PDF
• Blaimer, B. B.; Ward, P. S.; Schultz, T. R.; Fisher, B. L.; Brady, S. G. 2018. Paleotropical diversification dominates the evolution of the hyperdiverse ant tribe Crematogastrini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insect Systematics and Diversity 2 (5):1-14. 10.1093/isd/ixy013 PDF
• Bolton, B. 1982. Afrotropical species of the myrmicine ant genera Cardiocondyla, Leptothorax, Melissotarsus, Messor and Cataulacus (Formicidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 45:307-370. PDF
• Bolton, B. 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 222 pp.
• Bolton, B. 1995a. A taxonomic and zoogeographical census of the extant ant taxa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History 29:1037-1056. PDF
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp.
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and classification of Formicidae. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 71:1-370. PDF
• Cantone, S. 2017. Winged ants – The male. Dichotomous key to genera of winged male ants in the world. Behavioral ecology of mating flight. São Paulo: Autopubblicato, 318 pp. PDF
• Dalla Torre, K. W. 1893. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus. Vol. 7. Formicidae (Heterogyna). Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 289 pp. PDF
• Emery, C. 1877c. Catalogo delle formiche esistenti nelle collezioni del Museo Civico di Genova. Parte prima. Formiche provenienti dal Viaggio dei signori Antinori, Beccari e Issel nel Mar Rosso e nel paese dei Bogos. [concl.]. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale 9:369-381.
• Emery, C. 1895l. Die Gattung Dorylus Fab. und die systematische Eintheilung der Formiciden. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 8:685-778. PDF
• Emery, C. 1896e. Clef analytique des genres de la famille des Formicides, pour la détermination des neutres. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 40:172-189. PDF
• Emery, C. 1901b. Notes sur les sous-familles des Dorylines et Ponérines (Famille des Formicides). Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 45:32-54. PDF
• Emery, C. 1911e. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118:1-125. PDF
• Emery, C. 1914e. Intorno alla classificazione dei Myrmicinae. Rendiconti delle Sessioni della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna. Classe di Scienze Fisiche (n.s.)18:29-42. PDF
• Emery, C. 1922c. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [part]. Genera Insectorum 174B:95-206. PDF
• Fisher, B. L.; Bolton, B. 2016. Ants of the world. Ants of Africa and Madagascar. A guide to the genera. Berkeley: University of California Press, ix + 503 pp.
• Fisher, B. L.; Robertson, H. G. 1999. Silk production by adult workers of the ant Melissotarsus emeryi (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in South African fynbos. Insectes Sociaux 46:78-83.
• Forel, A. 1893b. Sur la classification de la famille des Formicides, avec remarques synonymiques. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 37:161-167. PDF
• Forel, A. 1917. Cadre synoptique actuel de la faune universelle des fourmis. Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 51:229-253. PDF
• Khalife, A.; Keller, R. A.; Billen, J.; Hita Garcia, F.; Economo, E. P.; Peeters, C. 2018. Skeletomuscular adaptations of head and legs of Melissotarsus ants for tunnelling through living wood. Frontiers in Zoology 15 (30):11 pp. 10.1186/s12983-018-0277-6 PDF
• Ramamonjisoa, M. M.; Rasoamanana, N.; Fisher, B. L. 2024. Male-based key to the subfamilies and genera of Malagasy ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1213:289-359. [online early] 10.3897/zookeys.1213.120531 PDF
• Ward, P. S.; Brady, S. G.; Fisher, B. L.; Schultz, T. R. 2015. The evolution of myrmicine ants: phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 40:61-81. 10.1111/syen.12090 PDF
• Wheeler, W. M. 1910a. Ants: their structure, development and behavior. New York: Columbia University Press, xxv + 663 pp. PDF
• Wheeler, W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. New York: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 1139.