Michelle Kirchner's discovery of a rare ant colony in North Carolina has revealed a previously little-known species, prompting further ecological research. There is one species of ant that is so rare that only a handful of records have been recorded in the entire eastern United States. North Carolina State University researcher Michelle Kirchner not only discovered the ants in the North Carolina Triangle, but was the first to document entire ant colonies for scientists, taxonomists, and ant lovers everywhere.
Michelle Kirchner of North Carolina State University has documented an entire rare ant colony, Aphaenogaster Mariae Forel, in the North Carolina Triangle, in a major discovery. This rare species, which usually appears in the canopy, was little known before, and there are no records of male ants. **matt bertone
Aphaenogaster Mariae Forel is a rare long-legged house ant. Unlike its counterparts, which mainly nest in the detritus of the forest floor, this ant spends most of its time living in a high tree canopy. This arboreal life cycle is a fairly common practice for ants in the tropics, but until now, little is known about the existence or ubiquity of arboreal ants in the delta.
First author of the work, Michelle Kirchner, a Ph.D. student in applied ecology and entomology at North Carolina State University, said:"I didn't expect to find these ants at all, so I was shocked when I found a whole colony. With an entire ant colony, we were able to record every life stage of this rare ant species, for the first time in science. "
Interestingly, to date, there is no documentation of the present males of this species group. In the same way, people do not know how many populations exist, what kind of habitat they are in, and what kind of habitat they prefer. However, these new detailed descriptions of all the members of the colony provide some clues.
The queens of these species are very small compared to other queens"Kirchner said. "This small body size is similar to that of parasitic queens because the small size makes them more likely to be mistaken for worker companions by ant colonies. "
Approximately 250 species of ants have been discovered in North Carolina, and Kirchner's rediscovery of this species helps us better understand the unique composition of North Carolina's biodiversity.
Kirchner says:"We don't know how important this species is to the forest ecology of the triangle. This different survey changed our findings and our perception of what might exist. Even in the Neus River Game Reserve, we still have many discoveries. "
Elsa Youngsteadt, a professor of applied ecology at North Carolina State University and co-author of the study, said:"This is a good case and we rarely come across this species, so it is impossible to draw any conclusions about its rarity or not. Michelle's observations suggest that these species are quite widespread locally, but more work needs to be done. "
Compilation**: scitechdaily