India, especially the northeast is known for its rich biodiversity. Recently, scientists have discovered two new species of ants from this region.
A team of ATREE( Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment ) from Bengaluru explored the northeastern hills and discovered two new species of ants from the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary from Arunachal Pradesh. The team was led by Dr Priyadarshanan Dharma Rajan. India has around 800 species of ants and 30 out of them were discovered by ATREE in the last 3 years.
One of these ants is called Parasyscia Ganeshaiahi, named after an eminent ecologist. This ant has a yellow-brownish body with little punctures all over its body. They generally live under logs and on decaying material.it has 11 segmented antennae, unlike the others which have 12. The other ant is called Syscia Indica, named after India as it was the first of its genus to be found in India. It is blind and with a reddish-brown body. In Asia, they are generally found in China, Japan and Sri Lanka.
This team has been working in the foothills of the Himalayas and so far has discovered 60 species of various insects including ants. They have also collected information about 25% of India’s ant fauna. ATREE is a research institute based in Bengaluru and was founded by Kamaljit S.Bawa and the world for environment conservation and sustainable development. It is celebrating its silver jubilee this year.
Content Writer (Erakina by RTMN)
17-11-2021
