Official Bluesky of the Iberian Myrmecology Association. A community of enthusiasts, experts and ant lovers
BIO: https://beacons.ai/aim.mirmecologia
AIM
📢Si aún no te has inscrito ¿a qué esperas?
🐜El @iicg-urjc.bsky.social @urjc.bsky.social acogerá el XX Congreso Ibérico de Mirmecología de la
@aim-mirmecologia.bsky.social
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Instituto de Investigación en Cambio Global
📄 You can read the full document here: acortar.link/ckcuep
❓ Did you know about this fascinating founding behavior in desert ants? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
#AIM #Myrmecology #Cataglyphis #Research #BachelorsThesis
🐜 The study confirms the presence of 40 non-native species, nearly four times the number known at the beginning of the century. Among them, 13 are considered invasive, while others still require closer monitoring to determine their status.
📈 The results reveal a sharp increase in the number of introductions since 2000, particularly in urban environments and coastal areas of southern Iberia.
ℹ️ Full article available via the link in our bio or at: bit.ly/4uoif3c
#AIM #Myrmecology #ExoticSpecies #Biogeography #CitizenScience
🌍 Using a potential distribution model, the study characterizes the species' ecological niche, confirming its strict environmental tolerances to thermal and water stress and restricting its ideal habitat to the thermophilic and semi-arid environments of the Mediterranean basin.
🌍 The research combines more than 600 published records, validated citizen science observations and new field data, highlighting the growing role of platforms such as iNaturalist in the early detection of exotic species.
🐜 New Bachelor's Thesis: The desert ant
🎓 Our member F. Javier López Ballesta, a graduate in Environmental Sciences from the University of Murcia, has presented his Bachelor's Thesis titled "Autoecology and nest founding strategies in the desert ant, Cataglyphis iberica".
🤝 Furthermore, the trials suggest that, linked to their polydomous nature, these ants can exhibit surprising social tolerance, exceptionally allowing workers from different nests to cooperate during the queen's assisted founding.
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🗺️ Updated checklist of exotic ants in the Iberian Peninsula
📄 Members Javier Arcos, Diego López-Collar and Matvey Logachev have contributed to a new study compiling and updating all available information on introduced ants in the Iberian Peninsula up to 2025.
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🔬 The results demonstrate that strict claustral founding is unviable: survival in isolation is only 6.7%, leading to metabolic issues and stress-induced oophagy. Conversely, through assisted founding, the success rate reaches 69.6%.
