Two new species of a rare ant genus discovered in India 

Two new species of a rare ant genus discovered in India 

Part of: GS Prelims and GS- III – Biodiversity; Environment

In news 

• Two new species of a rare ant genus have been discovered in India. 
• The species of the ant genus Ooceraea found in Kerala, and Tamil Nadu add to the diversity of this rare genus.

Key takeaways

• One of them found in the Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala, has been named Ooceraea joshii, in honour of Prof. Amitabh Joshi, a distinguished evolutionary biologist.
• The newly discovered ant species with ten segmented antennae, establish an old world lineage that contains a species emerging as the only model organism among the ant subfamily.