Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

GS-3

2.NEW ANT SPECIES DISCOVERED FROM KERALA

Two new species of a rare ant genus have been discovered in India.
The species of the ant genus Ooceraeafound in Kerala, and Tamil Nadu adds to the diversity of this rare genus.
They differ from others of the same genus on the basis of the number of antennal segments.
One of them, found in the Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala, has been named Ooceraeajoshii, after a distinguished evolutionary biologist from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR).

About ant genus Ooceraea:

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

SOURCE: PIB

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