RUI: REVSYS: A Global Monographic Revision of the Ant Genus Paratrechina

Towson University, Towson MD

Investigators

Abstract

The ant genus Paratrechina is a diverse group of 158 species; however, as many as twice that number remains to be discovered and described. Paratrechina ants are important representatives of ant communities around the world. The researchers propose to revise the taxonomy of the genus on a global scale, creating identification tools and describing new species that will complete a large and important chapter for the ant volume of the proposed "encyclopedia of life". This project will facilitate accurate species identification for a wide range of scientific studies, and will assist United States government quarantine inspectors responsible for monitoring potentially invasive species. The researchers will train students in various aspects of modern systematics and biological research. Undergraduate and graduate students will be fully integrated into the research, with positions widely advertised to encourage women and underrepresented groups to apply. Outreach will be facilitated through the creation of a Paratrechina of the World website, providing land managers and agricultural inspectors an authoritative source of information on these animals. Several Paratrechina species are already of quarantine concern, and the proposed project will provide tools needed to protect areas from the accidental introduction of species, and will inform decisions about agricultural biological control efforts.