🐜 A new desert ant species has been described! 📄 Our members Fede García, Amonio David Cuesta-Segura and Xavier Espadaler describe Cataglyphis mater, a new species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula belonging to the Cataglyphis cursor group. 👇1/4

🗺️ A new parasitic species of the genus Plagiolepis! 📄 Our members Fede García, Amonio David Cuesta-Segura and Xavier Espadaler present a review of the socially parasitic ants of the genus Plagiolepis occurring in the Iberian Peninsula. 👇1/5

A Linepithema iniquum ant nest in a yellowed leaf sheath in the El Yunque rain forest, Puerto Rico.

Southern fire ants, Solenopsis xyloni, carrying a pebble from an excavation project deeper in the nest. West Texas. I often think of this species as a western desert ant, but it used to be found coast to coast and was extirpated in the east by the red imported fire ants.

🐜 Eucalyptus trees and ants: an unexpected relationship 📄 Our members Joaquín L. Reyes-López and Francisco Jiménez-Carmona have just published a new study in the journal Sustainability analyzing the impact of Eucalyptus camaldulensis stands on ant communities in the Tabernas Desert 👇1/7

Los días 8, 9 y 10 de julio de 2026, el @iicg-urjc.bsky.social (@urjc.bsky.social), en el campus de Móstoles, acogió la XX edición de Taxomara, el Congreso Ibérico de Mirmecología organizado por la Asociación Ibérica de Mirmecología @aim-mirmecologia.bsky.social. 👇

🌾 Founding success in harvester ants 📄 A new study, with the collaboration of our members Ahmed Taheri and Joaquín L. Reyes-López, examines how the initial body mass of Messor barbarus queens and the weight they lose during colony founding influence their survival and worker production. 👇1/5

🐜 New ant records for Oman 📄 Members Matvey Logachev and Paco Alarcón have contributed to a new study that expands our knowledge of the ant fauna of the Arabian Peninsula.

🏝️ New insights into the non-native ants of the Canary Islands! 📄 Our members Amonio David Cuesta-Segura and Xavier Espadaler have published an updated review of the non-native ants of the Canary Islands.

🐜 Hoy vengo a hablaros de hormigas y de lo frecuente que es ver en Doñana por estas fechas a las obreras de Cataglyphis tartessica y Aphaenogaster senilis transportando pétalos de Halimium halimifolium hacia sus hormigueros. 🧵1/2

Inolvidable experiencia en el XX Congreso Ibérico de Mirmecología (Taxomara 26) con una marcada representación de la Universidad de León. Estamos muy orgullosos de la participación de nuestras estudiantes. Excelente organización. ¡Nos vemos en la próxima edición! @aim-mirmecologia.bsky.social

🐜 Taxomara 2026 continues in Madrid 👇1/5 📚 Over the past few days, we’ve enjoyed a fantastic programme of oral presentations and poster sessions, sharing projects, results and experiences with fellow enthusiasts of myrmecology.

⁉️ Did you know…? The genus Camponotus houses the bulkiest ants in Europe, true giants of our myrmecofauna whose nuptial flights follow a very precise natural order linked to the summer. 👇1/6

🐜 Ant eyes can reveal their identity too! 🧵1/5 📄 A new study led by our member Joaquín L. Reyes-López shows that ant eyes can provide key clues for distinguishing cryptic species within the Temnothorax tuberum group.

🧬 A new genetic atlas for Europe’s ants 📄 Members Fede García, Kiko Gómez, José María Gómez y Alberto Tinaut have contributed to an ambitious study presenting the most comprehensive DNA barcode library ever assembled for European ants.

Taxonomist: Eureka! I have discovered a small orange ant that is very timid and is only 3mm long and never comes above ground. Regular person: That's great! What will you name it? Taxonomist:

Tyrannomyrmex rex

Tyrannomyrmex rex is a species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae native to Malaysia and Singapore. For the first time in a decade, in 2017, the extremely rare ant was seen alive, living in the dirt o...

inaturalist.org

🐜 Record Biodiversity in Aracena! 📄 A new study led by researchers and members of the AIM (Association of Molecular Insects) Soledad Carpintero, Francisco Jiménez-Carmona, and Joaquín L. Reyes-López updates the myrmecofauna of the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park (Huelva).

🐜 Investigating African leaf-litter ants 📄 Our members Kiko Gómez and Daniel Sánchez-García have contributed to a fascinating new study on African ant fauna, published in the journal African Invertebrates 👇

🗺️ 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.

🐜 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".

📢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 👇

🐜 The XX Iberian Myrmecology Congress – TAXOMARA 2026 is fast approaching in Móstoles! 🏛️ Organised by the AIM and Rey Juan Carlos University. 📝 Make a note of these IMPORTANT DATES so you don't miss a thing:

🌍 A call for applications has been opened for a PhD position at Maynooth University (Co. Kildare, Ireland), focusing on a fascinating and threatened species.

🐜 Las hormigas en la tele: divulgación en Canal Málaga 📺 Nuestro socio @jmvidalcordero.bsky.social ha participado en el programa "El porqué de las cosas" de Canal Málaga presentado por Adolfo Arjona, un espacio dedicado a acercar la ciencia al público general.

🐜 The Lasius Genus in Galicia 📄 Our partner Fede García presents an updated review of ants of the genus Lasius in Galicia, providing new records and expanding our knowledge of their distribution in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

Her nest disturbed by the photographer, a Solenopsis thief ant worker exudes a droplet of venom on her stinger and waves it in the air. This behavior is known as "gaster-flagging". Paraná, Brazil.

Ten points if you can figure out what's going on here. (Ecuador)

🌍 A call for applications has been opened for a PhD position at Maynooth University (Co. Kildare, Ireland), focusing on a fascinating and threatened species.

🐜 Mutualism in Tropical Dry Forest Regeneration 📄 A new study analyzes how interactions between ants and plants with extrafloral nectaries influence protection against herbivores during ecological succession in dry forests of the Caatinga. Our partner Xavier Arnan participated in the research.

¿Has visto las noticias? El IICG @urjc.bsky.social acogerá el XX Congreso Ibérico de Mirmecología de la @aim-mirmecologia.bsky.social 👉https://iicg-urjc.es/el-iicg-urjc-acogera-el-xx-congreso-iberico-de-mirmecologia-taxomara-2026/ ¡Inscríbete ahora!