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Ecology & Environment
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24/01/21 09:30 AM IST

New ant species discovered from Kerala

In news

Two new species of a rare ant genushave been discovered in India. 

Details
  • The species of the ant genus Ooceraeafound in Kerala, and Tamil Naduadd to the diversity of this rare genus.
  • They differ from others of the same genus on the basis of the number of antennal segments.
  • New species are typically named after some distinguishing attribute or location but are often named after scientists as a means of honouring their research contributions to biology, especially in the fields of evolutionary and organismal biology, ecology or systematics.
  • The two new species, the first ones spotted with ten-segmented antennae among this rare genus, were discovered by a team led by Prof. Himender Bharti of Punjabi University, Patiala. The discovery has been published in the journal ZooKeys.
  • The genus is currently represented by 14 species of which eight possess nine-segmented antennae, while five possess eleven- segmented antennae and one species has recently been reported with eight-segmented antennae.
  • In India, the genus was so far represented by two species with nine- and eleven-segmented antennae respectively.
  • The newly discovered ant species with ten segmented antennae discovered, establish an old world lineage that contains a species emerging as the only model organism among the ant subfamily.
Source: PIB

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