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Welcome to the website for Ants of Colombia! 

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The study of ants in Colombia has had two main stages: The first is foreign and distant in time, although with some illustrious names, such as Auguste Forel, Niels Weber, or Wiliam L. Brown. These researches were the first to explore parts of the national territory in search of ants. From these expeditions, base material was collected for various descriptions and monographs. In addition to Brown, other illustrious myrmecologists were Charles Kugler, Philip Ward, and John Longino, who collected ants in the Santa Marta region. Regarding people residing in Colombia, Dr. William P. Mackay, being in the Peace Corps, began the first long-term sampling with broader criteria, in turn helping a self-taught myrmecologist, Francisco Castaño, sadly died in the midst of youth. The second stage starts more or less in the 80s, with biologists such as John Lattke, Fernando Fernández, and Francisco Serna who began the continuous study of the Colombia myrmecofauna (and Venezuelan with John). Since the 2000s, the taxonomic study of ants has expanded considerably, thanks to new generations of biologists, who, with more sophisticated tools, are rapidly increasing their understanding of the fauna of Colombia and the Neotropics.