Ants are a social insects that are widely varied and abundant. Although they play a significant role in the mangrove environment, little is known about ants in the Indian Sundarbans. Understanding ant abundance in the Indian portion of the Sundarbans during the pre- and post-monsoon is the goal of this study. 35 species and 21 genera of ants from 5 subfamilies were discovered from five different locations of Sunderbans. Myrmeciinae is the subfamily with the highest number of species (16) followed by Formicinae (8). In the current investigation, five invasive species were discovered: Monomorium floricola, Solenopsis geminata, Paratrechina longicornis, Tapinoma melanocephalum, and Trichomyrmex destructor.

Ants are highly diverse social insects distributed in every terrestrial habitat except the north and south poles. Even though they are a dominant group in the mangrove ecosystem the study of ant diversity in Sunderbans mangrove, the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem is yet to start. The objective of this study was to understand the ant diversity in mangrove patches in the villages of Indian Sunderbans. Ants were collected from the reclaimed areas of Indian Sunderbans. Total of 35 species, 21 genera of ants belonging to 5 subfamilies were found in this study. The highest number of species was found in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Dilobocondyla gasteroreticulatus reported first time from West Bengal. Ant species Paratrechina longicornis, Crematogaster spp., Monomorium spp, Camponotus spp. and Tetraponera rufonigra were the most abundant species in the mangrove habitat. Most of the ants were found from the mangrove associate plant, Excoecaria agallocha. The ant species diversity index in this study is moderate (H'= 2.37), while the evenness index classified as moderate (E =0.5), and no species of ants dominate this area (D = 0.1).