The ant was discovered in an ecological survey that documented animals living below ground in the arid Pilbara region in the north of Western Australia.
"Only two specimens of the new ant species were found, and both were collected in a net lowered down a 25-meter drill hole and retrieved by scraping against the hole's inner surface," Wong said.
"Unlike most ants, species of Leptanilla live in small colonies, usually comprising a queen and only a hundred or so workers, and nest and forage exclusively underground," Dr. Wong said. "Adapting to life in darkness, Leptanilla workers are blind, devoid of pigmentation, and measure between just one to two millimeters—not much larger than a grain of sand—allowing them to move effortlessly through the soil."
Leptanilla voldemort is only the second Leptanilla species discovered on the Australian continent.
"From what we know from the few observations of other Leptanilla species and the highly specialized, sharp mandibles of Leptanilla Voldemort, this new species is almost surely a predator, a fearsome hunter in the dark," Dr. Wong said. "While the exact prey of Leptanilla voldemort remains unclear, other Leptanilla species are known to use their sharp jaws and powerful stings to immobilize soil-dwelling centipedes much larger than themselves, before carrying their larvae over to feed on the carcass."
[1] Wong et al, Leptanilla voldemort sp. nov., a gracile new species of the hypogaeic ant genus Leptanilla (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Pilbara, with a key to Australian Leptanilla in ZooKeys - 2024. See here.
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