Scientists have discovered a new species of blue ant in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.
This rare little ant, Paraparatrichna niella, is less than 2 mm long and has a distinct metallic blue body.
This triangular-headed ant has large eyes and a triangular jaw with five teeth.
Researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment said they noticed the glow-in-the-dark ants when they were studying a hole in a tree about 10 feet above a road in Yinko village.
Insects like butterflies and moths can usually be seen in blue, but this color is extremely rare in ants.
Among the roughly 17,000 species and subspecies worldwide, only a few show blue or all seven colors, the researchers said.
The blue color in insects is usually due to the nanostructure. However, it is not clear whether this blue color helps in a process such as communication or camouflage.
