Biodiversity & Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology Graduate University
Welcome to the Arilab.
A taxonomic and biogeographic revision of some notoriously invasive species belonging to the genus Pheidole, written by the excellent Eli Sarnat! A must read for everyone interested in invasive species. [Spoiler alert: Pheidole teneriffana became a junior synonym of P. indica!] Read the exciting story behind this finding at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151214102307.htm
Original publication can be found here
A new species of Proceratium on Samoa, found and described by the very talented ant researcher Liu Cong.
Original publication can be found here
Image attribution: OIST
Mr. Hidetsune Takamine is a well-known Okinawan ant expert who has been collecting ants in Okinawa for around 40 years. His collection includes 116 species, 30 of which are endemic to Okinawa.
On November 26, 2015, Mr. Takamine donated his ant collection to OIST at a handover ceremony that took place at the Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit and will be stored in the unit’s specimen shelf as the Takamine Collection.
Dr. Masashi Yoshimura and Prof. Evan Economo expressed their gratitude towards Mr. Takamine, emphasizing how much this donation would contribute to academic research and more specifically how it would improve the scientific research on Okinawan biodiversity and help us understand how the diversity of Okinawa fits into the broader picture.
The biodiversity and biocomplexity unit participated in OIST’s November 8th 2015 Open Campus and set up a booth to exhibit the “Wonders of Ants”.
Displays ranged from live ant specimens to pinned ant specimen that could be viewed under a microscope to stereographic ant images that becomes 3D with proper glasses. A novel aspect in this year’s event include a slam trap display, which is meant to demonstrate to the public a method we use to collect ants which is also the main method being used to collect insects for the OKEON project. Two 3D printed ants along with the original specimens from which they were made were also exhibited. It was a successful event once again.
New paper by Benoit combining fossil biodiversity data with modern data. Some major things have changed but others not as much in the last 60 million years.
News article here:
https://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/2015/10/7/tropical-ants-europe
