The discovery of the ghost ant Leptanilla voldemort
A new ant called Leptanilla voldemort has been discovered in the underground depths of the Pilbara, Australia.
A strange, ghost-like ant has been discovered in the underground depths of the Pilbara in northwestern Australia and declared a new species. The new species was named Leptanilla voldemort, after the famous antagonist of the Harry Potter book series. The ant is pale, slender, and prefers life on the dark side, much like its namesake. Only two specimens of this ant have been discovered.
Leptanilla voldemort has an extremely slender body, long antennae, slender legs and long, sharp mandibles. This unusual morphology has raised many questions about the new species, but one thing seems certain: Leptanilla voldemort is almost certainly a predator, a fearsome hunter in the dark.
Leptanilla is an elusive genus of ants, with around 60 known species that form small colonies and nests and feed exclusively underground. Ants within the genus are pale, blind, and tiny, measuring only 1-2 millimeters, and are therefore rarely collected and poorly documented. L. voldemort is the second leptanillin species ever documented in Australia, after Leptanilla swani, described in 1932 and barely seen since.
Leptanilla voldemort was discovered during an ecological survey to document animals living underground in the Pilbara, one of the oldest land surfaces on Earth. Scientists lowered a net into a 25-meters hole, scraping the sides in the hope of recovering some subterranean specimens. Because of its slender structure, L. voldemort is unlike any other Leptanilla species, aside from one found in Iran. He is also practically transparent, hence his comparison to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
The nickname pays homage to the Harry Potter book series' antagonist, Lord Voldemort, a terrifying wizard who, like the new ant, is slender, pale and thrives in darkness. Weird and Wonderful Creatures have been named after all kinds of people, places, and things in canon, from beloved characters to redeemed villains, from Dementors to the Sorting Hat.
Dr Mark Wong, lead author of the study describing the new species, said Leptanilla voldemort is almost certainly a predator, a fearsome hunter in the dark. This is supported by what we know from the few observations of specialized hunting behavior in other Leptanilla ant species, where the tiny workers use their sharp mandibles and powerful stingers to immobilize ground-dwelling centipedes much larger than themselves, before carrying their larvae to feed on the corpse.
It's not known exactly what L. voldemort preys on, but centipedes, beetles and flies were among the numerous subterranean invertebrates collected in the same area.
