This week’s challenge was a difficult one. To answer it required 1) the ability to sight-ID nine ant species; 2) the geographic knowledge of where in the world each lives; and 3) a sense of how a particular collecting method, leaf litter sifting, biases the species composition. We were screening the line-up for litter-dwelling ants found in Africa.
Marek was the first to select the two plausible ants, for which I award 9 points (one point off for an incorrect first guess): Paraparatrechina (G) and Prionopelta (D).
The full line-up:
A. Azteca, Americas, tree-dwelling
B. Thaumatomyrmex, Americas, litter-dwelling
C. Tetraponera, Africa, tree-dwelling
D. Prionopelta, Africa, litter-dwelling
E. Podomyrma, Australia, tree-dwelling
F. Wasmannia, Americas, litter-dwelling
G. Paraparatrechina, Africa, litter-dwelling
H. Polyrhachis, Africa, tree-dwelling
I. Oxyepoecus, Americas, litter-dwelling
ah, but….in some forests in Africa you can (unfortunately) find Wasmannia (e.g. Gabon….), and although Polyrhachis is arboreal, I have found it in winkler samples before…. Nice quiz though 🙂