This Is The Newest Exploding Ant: Yellow Goo!
A new group of exploding ant called Colobopsis explodens was identified in a research paper this week. The "explodens" name isn't just for show – these ants actually explode with toxic yellow goo – that was its name before it received its scientific name too – Yellow Goo! The explosion isn't like a bomb – it's more like a flex, a tear, and an oozing out. It's really disgusting if you're on the attack's receiving end.
Colobopsis explodens is the newest ant species in the group Colobopsis cylindrica. The Colobopsis cylindrica group is known under its vernacular name "exploding ants," and it's latest new addition was identified in 1935. Until this week, that is. Now Colobopsis explodens is known, and it's here to leak its nasty innards all over potential predators.
Above you'll see a group of several Colobopsis explodens attacking a weaver ant. Below you'll see one Colobopsis explodens in a defensive post. (Alexey Kopchinskiy/Pensoft Publishers)
The new Colobopsis explodens species is a member of the Colobopsis cylindrica group. Colobopsis cylindrica was previously summarized under the name Colobopsis sundersi, but is now Colobopsis cylindrica is the modern term, also known under its vernacular name "exploding ants." These ants are known as exploding ants because of what they get up to when there's trouble.
"During territorial combat, workers of some species [in Colobopsis cylindrica] sacrifice themselves by rupturing their gaster and releasing sticky and irritant contents of their hypertrophied mandibular gland reservoirs to kill or repel rivals."
ABOVE: This map comes from AntMaps. Shown are the regions in which Colobopsis cylindrica were discovered natively and/or live today. These ants live in the Indo-Australian Region (Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia), Malagasy Region (Mauritius), and in Thailand.
For more information on this lovely creature, see the research paper published in ZooKeys called "Colobopsis explodens sp. n., model species for studies on "exploding ants" (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), with biological notes and first illustrations of males of the Colobopsis cylindrica group." This paper was authored by Alice Laciny, Herbert Zettel, Alexey Kopchinskiy, Carina Pretzer, Anna Pal, Kamariah Abu Salim, Mohammad Javad Rahimi, Michaela Hoenigsberger, Linda Lim, Weeyawat Jaitrong, and Irina S. Druzhinina. This paper can be found with code doi: 10.3897/zookeys.751.22661 in ZooKeys 751: 1-40.