BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA MYRMECOFAUNA IN THE CONTEXT OF BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH

In Amazonia, one of the largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforests on the planet, the main natural laboratories comprise its forests, rivers, and caves, as well as the wide range of interactions found across urban, rural, riverine, and traditional territories. These ecosystems, rich in both biological and cultural diversity, serve as sources of ecological and ethnobiological data. They provide insights into a highly complex region and offer directions for conservation efforts with global relevance. Ants are also diverse in Amazonia, though enormous knowledge gaps remain. This chapter presents an overview of the 1,140 species, 106 genera, and 12 subfamilies currently recorded for the Brazilian Amazonia. These records represent more than two centuries of scientific investigation, alongside the millennia of traditional knowledge that exists in the region. Due to the large scale and complexity of the region, data on Amazonian ants remain fragmented and often inconsistently documented. Despite these limitations, this chapter compiles recent database information to present the current state of knowledge and highlight the ecological importance of Amazonian ant diversity. Furthermore, we examine Amazonia from an ant-centered perspective, emphasizing how the diversity of this group and the development of collaborative research networks advance myrmecology and regional conservation.