NEW on antbase.net in August 2010:

Here are some more pictures of ants from the Natural History Museum in London. A big thank you to Mrs. Suzanne Ryder who made this loan possible!

 

The Ants of Iran at www.antbase.net

Iran is a vast country with a total area of 1.6 million square kilometers, which is located in the mid-latitude band of arid and semi-arid regions of the Old World, in Southwest Asia. Biogeographically southwest Asia represents a transition zone between three regions: Palaearctic, Afrotropical and Oriental. Iran′s borders from the south and east are near to Afrotropical and Oriental regions, respectively. Although arid and semi-arid areas cover more than half of the country, Iran also includes high mountains with alpine areas, broadleaf forest in the southern coastal plains of the Caspian forests, and steppe forests in the north and west. The Iranian ant fauna has been poorly investigated. So far 142 species belonging to 32 genera have been recorded from Iran (Paknia et al. 2008, Paknia et al. 2010), which is still far from the real number.

Have a look at the pictures that were taken by the very talented Elham Kashani.