A new type of ant was found in Sabah and is named after a researcher from UMS.
The species was discovered during a field study in 2023 at the Kawang Forest Reserve in Papar.
A new type of ant has been found and named Syscia yekzoeae to honor Dr. Yek Sze Huei is a senior teacher at the Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
The new species was discovered during a field trip in 2023 at the Kawang Forest Reserve in Papar, Sabah.
Lateral view of the Queen of S. yekzoeae
Groups of Syscia yekzoeae live in decaying wood and dirt. This species mainly eats other ants, and its queens can’t fly. They have small wings that don’t work, but we don’t know why they have them.
The finding, along with two other ant species called Syscia sabahna and Ooceraea magna, was published in the December 2024 issue of the journal Asian Myrmecology. Both new types of animals were discovered in the Crocker Range of Sabah.
Male of S. yekzoeae
Syscia sabahna can be found in more places, including Poring, Tambuyukon in Kinabalu Park, and Tawau Hills Park. Like Syscia yekzoeae, it also lives in decaying wood and dirt.
Sure Please provide the text you’d like me to rewrite in simple words. Yek and her team, who have kept working on ant diversity since ITBC started in 1996, think that we still don’t know a lot about the different types of ants in Sabah.
They expect that more research will help find even more new species.
Worker of S. yekzoeae
The study was a team project led by Professor Seiki Yamane from Kagoshima University in Japan, who looked at the classification of the species. Researcher Riou Mizuno from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, also in Japan, took photos of the specimens and observed them in the lab.
You can find the detailed results at this link: http://www. asian-myrmecologyorg/doi/1020362/am017004html
