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Chance Hong Kong sighting leads to big discovery of ant-sized proportions

University researchers discover the ‘golden tree ant’ just metres from campus, marking the 22nd species unique to city

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Ying Luo and Benoit Guenard of the Insect Biogeography and Biodiversity research group described and named a new ant species Paratopula bauhinia. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Biologists have discovered a new ant species native to Hong Kong believed to have been hiding in nearby trees for years.

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The ant was found by University of Hong Kong researchers Benoit Guenard and Ying Luo on an evening excursion in September last year, just a few hundred metres from the campus in Lung Fu Shan Country Park.

The Hong Kong University researchers named the species Paratopula bauhinia, in reference to the bauhinia flower, which is a symbol of Hong Kong.

The common name for the ant has been declared the “golden tree ant”.

The insect has not been found anywhere else in the world and has so far been sighted only in Lung Fu Shan Country Park, making it endemic to Hong Kong.

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The unusually large size of the ant, about 7mm long, and its light golden appearance first caught the eye of Luo.

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