The extraordinary diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of leaf litter in the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve, Tshopo, Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the highest diversity of ant species in the Afrotropical region, even though it remains largely understudied in the modern era. The aim of this study is to report on an inventory of the litter ants from the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve in the Tshopo Province, north of the Congo River. Three habitats (fallow, secondary forest and primary forest) were sampled at six localities. A total of 190 ant species belonging to 50 genera and 8 subfamilies, have been recorded in the Yangambi biosphere region. Besides, 96 species were added to Tshopo Province, bringing the total to 306, a 44% increase; and we added 55 species to the already diverse Democratic Republic of the Congo, raising the total record to 791 species, a 7% increase. At least 10% of the collected species are new to science.

RBINS Publication(s), Peer Review, PDF available, RBINS Collection(s)

Faunistics, African fauna, Afrotropical region, Congo Basin