Sunday, August 13, 2006
Scientists gather for ant boot camp
Scientists and students from around the world have descended on the north Queensland city of Cairns for an 'ant boot camp'.
The Ant Course is held in a different city in the world every year to teach entomologists to describe and classify ants and to further their knowledge of the insect's part in ecological biodiversity.
...It will be the first time the Ant Course has been held in Australia, said Ant Course organiser Dr Brian Fisher, curator of entomology at the California Academy of Sciences...
...Dr Fisher is planning an ant collecting expedition and will travel to South Australia in the hope of finding the dinosaur ant...
..."It is the icon of the ant world," Dr Fisher said.
The timid, nocturnal, golden-coloured dinosaur ants were discovered in 1977 at Poochera, near Streaky Bay on the Eyre Highway and are considered the world's most primitive living ant, he said.
technorati tags: queensland, cairns, ants, biodiversity, ant, course, entomology, dinosaur, primitive
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