Date:13/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/13/stories/2006111306620400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Book on Indian ants to be released today

Govind D. Belgaumkar

The weaver ant

BANGALORE: While Bangalore has over 125 species of ants, the whole of the U.K. has only 55. Ants of particular species can jump 18 cm and shut their jaws at 198 km per hour.

The biomass of ants is greater than any vertebrate. That is, if you put an elephant on one side of the balance and enough ants on the other side, the ants will outweigh the pachyderm.

A book on Indian ants to be released here on Monday by Ram Mohan Ray, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, brings out these facts. It is brought by Bangalore-based Ajay Narendra of Research School of Biological Science, Austrian National University, and Sunil Kumar M., who formerly worked with the Centre for Ecological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science. The 208-page book, "On A Trail With Ants: A Handbook of the Ants of Peninsular India," has 170 photographs of ants and more than 20 illustrations.

The authors point out that 36 species of ants were seen in the backyard of one house in Basavanagudi. "Ants are everywhere... yet, our knowledge of these small magnificent creatures has been so little" they say. They are one of the best ecological indicators. "By studying ants one can learn a lot about the ecology of the region," Dr. Narendra, who has taken most of the pictures for the book, says.

The book speaks about the evolution of ants (they are said to be 160 million years old, "they might have seen dinosaurs," Dr. Narendra says), their morphology and biology, how to maintain ant colonies at home. It has a chapter on dos and don'ts of ant watching.

Ants are known for teamwork. Each ant knows and performs its role selflessly and diligently. Since their underground nests are prone to fungus attack, they produce the required chemical that insulates their nests. They come back home the same way they went out because they leave a trail of chemical called "pheromones" all along the path.

How does an average ant carry 10 times its weight? Mr. Sunil Kumar says that it is possible because it moves on six legs and has a flat body that is close to ground. This makes a lot of difference in terms of gravitation pull, Dr. Narendra says. "They are like tankers," Mr. Sunil Kumar says.

The authors hope that the book would be useful for general readers and entomology departments of agricultural universities, regular universities, and non-government organisations to bring out many more interesting aspects of ants. Lt. Col. Bingham published the last book on ants of India in 1903.