BENGALURU: Ants have been looked down upon as creatures who either bite or eat sugar, which is a result of complete lack of awareness,” says Sunil Kumar, science advisor and guide for Ant Walk, an upcoming event that will be held at Lalbagh curated with an aim to educate and create awareness about the little creature and its importance to the ecosystem.
Organised by EcoEdu, the unique walk, which introduces Bengalureans to the world of ants, was initiated by Kumar in 2002 out of sheer passion for the subject. Kumar takes note of an ant stretch at the walk, about which he informs the group in order to familiarise them with the various species of ants. “Lal Bagh, Cubbon Park, IISC and GKVK – these are areas with a huge diversity of ants. One can find close to 57-60 species of ants, and IISC and Lal Bagh have the most when compared to the rest. During the walk, people are made aware about the basics of identifying the species of ants, followed by how they navigate, communicate, their food habits and benefits. At the end of the walk, we expect people to identify at least 20 species,” says Kumar.
Bengaluru alone has close to 100 species of ants, with the rarest kind being jumper ants and the most common being fire ants, black crazy ants, harvester and weaver ants. One of the important species, Dilobocondyla bangalorica (The Bangalore Ant), was discovered by Kumar along with fellow researcher Srihari K T. Kumar emphasises on the importance of ants to the ecosystem, stating that they perform tunnelling duties and bring out mud to the surface, which is not widely known. He also shuts down misconceptions stating that not all ants bite.
Kumar also co-authored On a Trail with Ants, which was published in 2007, which he claims is only the second book on Indian ants since 1903. “We have field guides on birds, butterflies and moths but when it comes to Indian ants, the material is very less. A lot of my references are from the book and with science getting revised, the revisions are applied accordingly,” he says.
Ant walk will be held on Jan 11 at Lalbagh West Gate, Mavalli, from 8-10 am.