New Golden Tree Ant Species from Hong Kong

Posted on August 14, 2016

Scientists have identified a new species of ant called the Golden Tree Ant. The scientific name for the ant is Paratopula bauhinia. The ant is a golden color and is about the size of a grain of rice.

The discovery was led by Dr. Benoit Guénard at the School of Biological Sciences, the University of Hong Kong (HKU). The new species was discovered just a few hundred meters from the HKU campus. The ant has only been found at Lung Fu Shan Country Park and is likely endemic to Hong Kong Island.

The name Paratopula bauhinia references the Bauhinia flower and the arboreal nature of the ant. The new ant species is described here in the journal, Asian Myrmecology.

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