Diversity of Ants colonyinThana Forest area of Amgoan region District Gondia , Maharashtra, India

Ants represent one of the most significant insect groups concerning their ecological contributions and functional roles within ecosystems. These organisms function as ecosystem engineers, substantially modifying the chemical composition and microbial communities present within the soil environments they inhabit. The present investigation was conducted in the Thana Forest area situated within the Amgaon region of Gondia district, Maharashtra. Specimens were systematically collected from spanning April 2025 through March 2026. During this investigation, various ant species belonging to the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera, were identified and classified into three subfamilies: Formicinae, Myrmicinae, and Ponerinae. The subfamily Formicinae comprised four species, Myrmicinae encompassed two species, and Ponerinae contained one species, with Formicinae demonstrating dominance throughout the entire study period. In total, seven species distributed across six genera were documented, representing the three aforementioned subfamilies. The primary objective of this research was to identify and catalog ant species present in the study area, thereby establishing a comprehensive checklist of the identified ants fauna.