KOTA KINABALU: A new species of ant from the genus Syscia has been discovered in Sabah.
Named Syscia yekzoeae, it honours senior lecturer Dr. Yek Sze Huei from the Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ITBC) at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
The new species was discovered during fieldwork last year at Kawang Forest Reserve in Papar, Sabah.
"Colonies of the ants inhabit rotting wood and soil. The new species is an obligate predator of other ant species, and the queens are flightless with small, non-functioning wings.
"The function of these reduced wing buds is unknown," according to a statement from UMS.
The findings were published this month in the journal Asian Myrmecology.
In the same issue, two other ant species were described: Syscia sabahna and Ooceraea magna, both from the Crocker Range.
Syscia sabahna is more widespread and has been found in Poring, Tambuyukon in Kinabalu Park, and Tawau Hills Park.
Like the previously mentioned species, they also inhabit rotting wood and soil.
ITBC has a long history of ant research since its founding in 1996, and these new discoveries highlight
Yek and her team are confident that with more fieldwork and research, many more species of ants new to science will be discovered in Sabah.
The two authors collaborated on fieldwork and manuscript preparation. One of the authors Seiki Yamane (Professor Emeritus in Kagoshima University, Japan) played a role in taxonomic analysis and description.
Another author Riou Mizuno (Researcher in Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan) did laboratory rearing observations and specimen photography.