Mumbai: Study finds 35 ant species in Aarey Colony

Aarey colony acts as a buffer for the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. File pic

A paper recently published in a scientific journal has highlighted the importance of Aarey Milk Colony with data on the diversity of ants in the area. Ants are important bioindicators and a total of 35 species under 24 genera and six subfamilies were recorded from the study area.

The paper was published on July 26 in a reputed scientific journal and its authors include Akshay Gawade and Amol P Patwardhan.

Patwardhan, a wildlife researcher, said, "A total of 35 species of ants in a 16 sqkm area is really not a high number although it is significant and more research should be done. But the presence of various ant species is important. Ants are predators and feed on a variety of insects. They are also scavengers and clear out the dead bodies of other animals. So an area supporting 35 species means there is a good variety of food available, like insects. The presence of so many insects means there is more food available for them to feed on. In IIT Bombay, I think there were some 19 species in a 50-acre area. Then by hypothetically extrapolating, you can say the area is rich in diversity."

Aarey was notified in 1949 and covers an area of 16 sqkm. The colony acts as a buffer zone for the densely forested national park and faces heavy anthropogenic pressure such as illegal encroachment, change in land use, which converted it into a garden, nursery, picnic spots, restaurants, and milk processing units. The study on ants might help throw light on the diversity of invertebrates that are about to get lost or displaced.

Ants, being more local than other insects, can be efficiently used as a bioindicator and can provide information about the environment in which they occur.

There are 652 ant species and subspecies that are known to occur in India. A total of 28 species representing six subfamilies have also been recorded from Maharashtra Nature Park and 19 were recorded from IIT Bombay campus.

Aarey forest is of mixed moist deciduous trees and its faunal diversity includes 13 species of amphibians, 46 species of reptiles, 76 species of avifauna, 16 species of mammals, 86 species of butterflies, five species of scorpions, and 19 families of spiders. There is no reported work on the ants of this area.