New ant species discovered in Goa

A new ant species ‘Vaibhav’s Protanilla’ has been discovered in Goa, the finding of which was published recently in the international peer-reviewed journal for Entomology called ‘Halteres’. NT BUZZ details

RAMANDEEP KAUR | NT BUZZ

Research scholar at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Pronoy Baidya has been studying ants from Goa for the past 10 years.

Having done his Bachelors in Zoology at the Government College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Sanquelim, Baidya went on to do his Masters in Ecology at the Pondicherry
University.

And it was in college, that the keen birdwatcher began developing an interest in ants, and was encouraged to study it academically by his mentor Vaibhav Chindarkar.

“As a part of my PhD under the guidance of Sumanta Bagchi, I studied ants from all across Goa, trying to understand their distribution in different habitats and if invasive species of ants are disturbing native ant populations. I have also studied ants from high altitude systems of the Trans Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh,” says Baidya, who is one of the founders of Goa Bird Conservation Network (GBCN) and is on the executive committee of the same. He is also the coordinator of Research and Education at Arannya Environment Research Organisation (AERO), a Goa-based environment education NGO.

During a state-wide survey for ants undertaken in 2016 at Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, Baidya discovered a new species – Vaibhav’s Protanilla – named after his mentor.

“It is an ode to all teachers and mentors in Goa who have inspired and given rise to a very capable future generation,” says Baidya.

The finding of the new species was published recently in the international peer-reviewed journal for Entomology called ‘Halteres’

In Sanskrit, ‘Vaibhav’ means eminence – like the glow of a flame in the dark, and incidentally, this species is also bright yellowish-orange in colour and much brighter than all the other ants in the genus Protanilla. Hence, the species is named ‘flamma’ in Latin, with the full name being Protanilla flamma scientifically, while the common name is Vaibhav’s Protanilla. “This way, even though the common name is inspired by a teacher who has mentored several wildlifers in Goa, the scientific name is based on a morphological character,” says Baidya adding that Vaibhav’s Protanilla is the 13th species under the genus Protanilla.

The Vaibhav’s Protanilla is exclusively underground and is seldom seen above ground. Together with other subterranean ants, this ant forms a very important part of the ecosystem and provides several important services like maintaining the fertility of the soil and pest control. “The Vaibhav’s Protanilla is very small, measuring just 2.5 millimetres in length and is completely blind using just chemical signals and touch response for navigation in their dark subterranean world. These ants are presumed to live in small-sized colonies and are exclusive predators of other smaller insects,”
he says.

And the most reliable character to distinguish this species from other species within the genus is to measure the length of the basal portion of the antenna called the scape which is very small and does not extend beyond the head, unlike other species in this genus. “The other character is its bright yellow-orange colour which is very unique when compared to all other species in this genus Protanilla,” says Baidya.

As of now, this species is found in the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary. However, he says, it is expected that the species will be found in other suitable habitats from across India, especially in the upper reaches of Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, Goa. “Absolutely nothing is known about the natural history, biology and social structure of Vaibhav’s Protanilla. This offers an opportunity for other students and researchers to study these aspects of this species,” says Baidya, adding that the field of Myrmecology (study of ants) has not been explored much in Goa.

So far 146 species of ants have been documented in Goa and this count, says Baidya, is expected to go up once all identification of specimens collected are made. “No less than 200-250 species of ants are expected from Goa. In the last five years, rigorous work has been carried out in the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park with the support from Goa Forest Department and the range forest officer Paresh Porob,” he says. This work is both ecological and taxonomic in nature, attempting to understand how seasons affect ants and whether this can be linked to climate
change.