ANTS AS FLAGSHIP SPECIES: WHICH ONES AND WHY? A STUDY CASE WITH BRAZILIAN ANTS

The fragmentation and loss of habitats, pollution, and climatic change are the main drivers leading to an unprecedented decline in insect populations. A strategy to generate public engagement and funding for conservation action is using flagship species. Large mammals and top predators are often used as flagship species, but this does not ensure that insects also might benefit from this strategy. A solution to this bias is to select insects as flagship species directly. Three categories of flagship insects are proposed: ecosystem service providers, threatened species, and charismatic species. Unfortunately, ants are popularly known as pests or unbeloved species making it difficult to discuss conservation strategies for them. Hence, selecting ants as flagship species would require direct attention and conservation efforts straight to them. Our aim is to select ants as flagship species, considering the species’ ecological importance and charismatic appeal using species occurring in Brazil as a study case. Using the list of officially threatened species in Brazil and the non-human charisma concept, we selected two species as potential flagship species with ecological relevance and charisma: Dinoponera lucida for the Atlantic Forest and Atta robusta for restinga. In addition, we discuss the use of species with cultural relevance as flagship species and Eciton burchellii as an umbrella species used as flagship species too. We hope this study stimulates ant researchers to work with conservation biologists, social studies researchers, politicians, grassroots organizations, and other stakeholders in projects using ants as flagship species for conservation.