New species of ant discovered by Petra studies

An entirely new species of ant has been discovered in an area surrounded by tailings dumps at Cullinan. The ant was discovered after a baseline biodiversity study was carried out to establish the success of rehabilitation at the mine. A total of eight sites were surveyed and general insect fauna samples collected with special attention to ants as an indicator species. Ants are good indicator of pristine or disturbed eco-systems as they are more susceptible to disturbances, and 35 ant species were identified including the previously undiscovered one.

The proposed name of the new ant species is Afroxyidris taemane (taemane is the seTswana for diamond). The genus Afroxyidris is only previously known from two specimens of another species collected from cocoa leaf samples in Ghana, Afroxyidris crigensis. Afroxyidris taemane spends its life underground and the best time to collect them is during the raining season between October and April when there is more surface activity.

The mandible configuration differentiates taemane from crigensis - taemane has an extra tooth on its lower jaw. The site is now protected from further development pending additional investigations in March 2010. The new findings will determine whether the ants actually live in the area or were just travelling through at the time of sampling.