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A young species of prickly ant with intricate , wrinkled skin has been found in the Singaporean rainforest .
Myrmecinamagnificens , constitute for its beauty , hold out in leaf litter on the wood floor and probably preys ontiny mites , say discoverer Mark Wong , an ecologist and main researcher in Singapore . It has skin with a fingerprint - whorl pattern and delicate gold backbone that point , unusually , toward the front of its body .
Myrmecina magnificens, named for its striking, or magnificent, appearance, is a newly discovered ant species from the rainforest in Singapore. And it sort of looks like a raisin.
" Some multitude say it looks a little bit like a awful raisin , " Wong tell Live Science . [ Cool Close - Up Photos Show Ants of the World ]
Sifting the leaves
Wong get thenew antin his gratis time ; he ’s been exercise to describe fresh ant species in the little - studied primary rainforests in Singapore , where logging has been limit and there has been little research on ants in decade , he said .
He foundM. magnificensby aggregation and sifting through a sample of leaf litter . The dust on the forest flooring is home to many metal money , Wong said .
" It ’s where you ’re most belike going to find something interesting , " he enounce .
M. magnificensis the first species in its genus to have forward-facing spines, though researchers aren’t sure what these spines are used for.
After discovering the unknown species in this way , Wong captured some additional ant proletarian by baiting traps with tuna and burying them 2 column inch ( 5 cm ) under the land . In total , he enamour and described five individuals of the new specie .
Part of the ecosystem
The new ant measure about 0.18 inch ( 4.5 millimeters ) long . This is the first do it species ofMyrmecinaever discovered from the Malay Peninsula , Wong and his co - author , Benoit Guénard of the University of Hong Kong , wrote in theJournal of Hymenoptera Researchon June 27 . The Malay Peninsula contains the southernmost wind of Myanmar , Southern Thailand , West Malaysia and Singapore .
midget , urbanized Singapore might seem like a strange place to chance new species , Wong say . But it ’s a good spot to await , because the rainforests there are relatively untouched by human activities such as log , he said .
M. magnificensis also the first of its genus to sport front - facing spinal column , Wong allege . Some other member of the chemical group have similar spine , but they all face rearward . Researchers are n’t sure what the fingerprint rule is for , Wong said . It might assist ants sand trap chemical compounds call pheromones ( used for communication ) near their hide , or it might help keep the ants from dry out out . But so far , that ’s speculation , Wong said . also , the spines might be used for defense , but researchers are n’t certain .
Similarly , little is known about the new ant ’s lifestyle . OtherMyrmecinaspecies eat bantam moss hint and nest in diminished colonies of fewer than 100 individuals .
There have been about 15,000 coinage of ants described so far , with many species still unexplored , Wong say . ( He ’s documenting the species of Singapore up - closeon his Instagram feed . ) These tiny animate being are all-important for recycle nutrients back into forest land , he enounce , and because of the link they use up in the food chain . In Southeast Asia , for example , the critically endangered Sunda scaly anteater ( Manis javanica ) deplete a diet heavily reliant on pismire .
M. magnificens , is n’t the only emmet to make purpose of colorful hair . TheSaharan ash grey antboasts silver " fur " that reflects sunlight like a mirror , stay fresh the desert emmet nerveless .
Original article onLive Science .
