The Sapphire Coast is home to many different species of ants (in the Formicidae family), a group of insects that are one of the most successful and ecologically important groups of terrestrial insects.
Australia, is home to thousands of ant species, across 12 recognised subfamilies, which is two-thirds of the world’s subfamilies (that was the number at the time of writing and may change). One-third of known genera can be found in Australia with some of those only found. Queensland is said to have the greatest diversity of ants in the world, with more than 1,400 species identified within its borders2. In 2007, from the CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre (Darwin), it was estimated that the entire Australian fauna comprises about 6,500 species, of which only about one-fifth of have been described.3
This section is a work in progress…
Footnote & References
- Photographs © Deb Taylor
- Queensland home to most ant species in the world, 8 August 2015, Brisbane Times, https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/queensland-home-to-most-ant-species-in-the-world-20150808-giumpr.html
- Andersen, A. N. 2007. Ant diversity in arid Australia: a systematic overview, pp. 19-51. In Snelling, R. R., B. L. Fisher, and P. S. Ward (eds). Advances in ant systematics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): homage to E. O. Wilson – 50 years of contributions. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 80, http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21273/21273.pdf
Sapphire Coast FaunaAnts Bees Birds Insects Spiders
New South WalesBarunguba Montague Island Bourke Blue Mountains Bundeena Central Coast Kosciuszko National Park Mount Kaputar National Park Lower North Shore Northern Beaches Sapphire Coast Snowy Mountains Region South Coast Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden Sydney