Most kids know about ants more than you think they know. Thanks to the fable ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper,’ which taught children the value of working hard and saving for rainy days.
In reality, however, children know only of two types of ants: The friendly black ants that mysteriously appear inside the jar of cookies and table sugars, and the fearsome red ants, the ‘unfriendly’ creature with a powerful bite that can make even the bravest of children cry in pain.
As teenagers, we learn about bigger red ants-the ‘hantik’-the ‘giant’ red ants we all fear of the most. They all seemed to be protecting the trees we climb in our backyard for a taste of our favorite fruits.
New ant species
Did you know that conservatively, there are more than 10,000 ant species already known to science, and perhaps 10,000 more species are still out there, waiting to be discovered?
A new species of ant was recently discovered from Mt. Isarog Natural Park in the Bicol Peninsula by David Emmanuel M. General, a Research Associate Fellow at the National Museum of Natural History.
Scientifically named Temnothorax melanieae n. sp., it is the first species described from the Philippines.
It is distinguished by the 11-segmented antennae with a 3-segmented club, a longitudinally gently convex clypeus with a median carina, an absent metanotal groove, and an acutely cuneiform petiole.
The species is known in colder in regions, and it was the first time that such a species was recorded in the Philippines.
General told the BusinessMirror that the discovery was rare but not very surprising because Mt. Isarog is known for its cool temperature.
Ants everywhere
But did you know that ants are everywhere on the planet?
Anson Tagtag, chief of the Wildlife Resources Division, a unit under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) said ants are part of biodiversity and they are recognized for their ecosystem values.
‘Every species has ecosystem values. Any organism must be conserved. Incidentally, ants are almost always dismissed,’ Tagtag said in an interview on September 28.
While ants may be considered ‘pests’ when they ‘invade’ homes, in their natural habitats, they play very important roles.
They consume carcasses, in the process eliminating rotten flesh of dead animals that may eventually cause or trigger a pandemic, if uncontained.
Ants are opportunistic omnivores. According to experts, their diets vary by species but they generally include carbohydrates, such as nectar, fruits, and sugary human foods, which explains why they often invade homes; proteins like dead insects; and meat and fats, including animal remains.
Welcome development
The discovery of a new species of ants in the Philippines is a welcome development, considering that many ant species remain undiscovered.
‘This is a great discovery as it expands the known range of the genus Temnothorax Mayr. There are well over 10,000 ant species worldwide, present in all but the coldest regions like Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica,’ says Gregg Yan, executive director of Best Alternatives.
‘In 1994, Harvard University Professor Edward Wilson claimed that the world’s ants, estimated then at 10 thousand trillion individuals, weighed more than the world’s human population [this was eventually debunked.especially now that people are eating more fast food and are getting fatter each year!].’
Deeper understanding
Yan said every species discovery gives people a deeper understanding of the planet’s rich biodiversity, while potentially catalyzing the advancement of medicine.
‘For instance, some ant species have been found to have peptides that can help regulate blood sugar, leading to new anti-diabetic medicines. Ants with bites that can cause great amounts of pain can show bioprospectors novel ways of developing painkillers. For all we know, the cure to cancer, HIV, Alzheimer’s, and other incurable diseases may lie in the bodies or secretions of unknown plants, animals, or fungi,’ he added.
Only by finding and studying these species can we find out if nature has the ‘keys to unlock new doors for science in general and medicine in particular,’ he said.
Novel discovery
Responding to a BusinessMirror inquiry about whether ants could be invasive species, international biodiversity expert Theresa Mundita S. Lim said the newly discovered species is entirely novel and has not been recorded anywhere else in the world, making it highly unlikely to be an invasive alien species.
Lim, a former DENR-BMB director and executive director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity, said in contrast, there are well-documented examples of invasive ants, such as the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), which is native to South America.
‘This species has already been introduced in several regions, including the United States, China, South Korea, Australia, and parts of Southeast Asia. These ants deliver painful stings that can cause severe allergic reactions in humans and are known to outcompete native ant species, resulting in serious ecological imbalances and biodiversity loss,’ she said via Messenger on September 30.
Not all ants are ants
Lim said not all ants are actually ants, citing, for instance, the infamous ‘white ants’ abhorred by many for destroying human homes.
‘As for white ants, I believe you’re referring to termites, which are not ants but are sometimes mistaken for them due to their social behavior and appearance,’ she said.
‘While I am not a termite expert, I know that termites are generally considered pests in human settings because they feed on wood and cellulose, often damaging wooden homes and structures. However, in their natural habitats, termites play a vital role in the ecosystem,’ she explained.
Termites, often referred to as white ants, help break down dead wood and plant material, converting them into organic matter that enriches the soil, Lim said.
‘In forest ecosystems, their populations are naturally regulated by predators, such as certain birds, and in Palawan, by pangolins, which are known to feed on them. Termites typically live in soil or burrows and act as ecosystem engineers by aiding in nutrient cycling and soil formation,’ she pointed out.
Human encroachment
Pointing out that it is not ants that really invade human homes, but the other way around, Lim said that as humans build structures close to or over their habitats-and as natural predators decline due to habitat loss-termites are forced to consume available wooden structures, leading to the perception of them as pests.
‘According to the article by General, ants in the genus Temnothorax have previously been recorded in countries in Southeast Asia, like Vietnam, but the newly described species, Temnothorax melanieae, is the first species in this genus recorded in the Philippines. This, thus, becomes another remarkable addition to our native insect biodiversity,’ she said.
Lim explained that ants, in general, play crucial ecological roles. They help decompose organic waste, such as leaves, turning them into nutrient-rich substrates that enhance soil fertility, thereby supporting forest regeneration and plant productivity.
‘Ants also serve as prey for a wide range of species, forming an essential link in food webs. Without our native ants, not only would soil health and plant growth suffer, but the food sources for natural predators that depend on them would also decline-ultimately disrupting the entire ecological pyramid, including impacts that reach us humans at the apex,’ she said.