— Dr Bikash Sahoo
There’s a unique thrill in doing fieldwork, a sense that you never quite know what you might stumble upon. Right beneath your feet, a novel species could be living and moving unnoticed. All it takes is digging into the soil, lifting a rotten log or a rock, or sometimes simply being attentive enough to spot a trail of ants. Sometimes you are lucky enough to see that trail crossing your own walking path, and such small discoveries often leave a lasting impression.
For me, some of these unforgettable moments came during my fieldwork in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. In 2021, I went into the field with colleagues from LaCONES, Hyderabad; Pragyadeep, a PhD student, and Dr Mihir, a postdoctoral researcher.
On 15 October 2021, we were surveying the Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary in Kadapa district.
While returning along the rocky, man-made path leading toward the Lankamalla wildlife sanctuary and the Sri Lankamalla temple, Mihir and I simultaneously noticed a trail of army ants crossing the path. The ants were yellow in colour, and I quickly collected a few individuals using my aspirator.
Two days later, our sampling continued in the Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary in Chittoor district. As usual, I was digging and lifting rocks in search of ants, while Pragyadeep and Mihir were focused on collecting centipedes.
While digging through the upper soil, Pragyadeep uncovered a group of medium-sized, reddish ants emerging from below. He immediately called me over (he does this every time he finds ants, just as I do when I find centipedes. It’s our own small scientific mutualism). At first glance, I recognized them as army ants, and I happily collected several specimens.
Back at the NISER laboratory, as I examined the specimens under a microscope, something stood out. The ants from the two locations looked quite different from any species I had encountered before. Their morphology did not match any described species in the genus. To investigate further, I sequenced their DNA and constructed a phylogenetic tree to compare them with known Aenictus species.
As I suspected, the genetic data confirmed that these ants were distinct from previously described species. We then carefully compared them with their closest morphological relatives and identified several diagnostic characters that clearly set them apart.
Working with collaborators from ATREE, we formally described these species and named them in honour of the beautiful places where they were discovered. The ants from the Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary were named Aenictus lankamallensis, while those from the Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary became Aenictus chittoorsensis, a tribute to the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
Discoveries like these are reminders of how much remains hidden in plain sight. A narrow ant trail on a rocky path or a patch of soil can open a window into life still unknown to science. This also highlights the vital role of forests in sustaining biodiversity and the need to conserve these ecosystems, for both what we know and what remains to be discovered.
Our study has also been featured in several news outlets such as Greenminute, Bangalore Mirror, Deccan Herald and Mongabay.
Read about it here.