Bangalore: Zoologists from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) in Bangalore, have discovered two new species of small-colony-forming ants in the hilly forests of Mizoram. The discovery of two new species marks the first record of the Myrmecina genus from the state of Mizoram, the three-member research team claims in a statement.

One of the species, named Myrmecina bawai, has a yellow-coloured hairy body with dark tinge. Named after Kamaljit S. Bawa, an evolutionary ecologist and founder of ATREE, M. bawai has small eyes with erect hairs on different body parts. It also has smooth and shiny legs. “We discovered two worker ants of M. bawai each in two pitfall traps 200 apart at an altitude of 2157 m above sea level in the Phawngpui National Park,” says Priyadarsanan. 

The research team did an extensive sampling in Mizoram state as part of - Bioresource and Sustainable livelihoods in North East India - which was supported by the Department of Biotechnology.

The research was carried out in the Indo-Burma hotspot region from April 2019 and collected samples from almost all the protected areas and community reserve forests of Mizoram. When the team had started this study, 57 species of ants were known from Mizoram and with the discovery of these two new species, the team claims that they are adding another 20 more species to the ant fauna of Mizoram.

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