Twenty years later everything that Skaife had taught me became crucially important when, with William Bond, we discovered the importance of myrmecochory [ant distribution of seeds] in fynbos ecology. Sometimes being an amateur works well, and I do not heed the advice of the scruffy old Prof who commented that you can’t rely on amateurs to ID ants. The taxonomy of many genera, especially Pheidole and Camponotus, is in such a mess that you can’t, apparently, rely on the academics either.
That said, whether amateur or professional, your inputs towards mapping the poorly-known distribution of our ant species, especially the invaders who threaten the ecology of much of the fynbos, will be of huge value. Merely recording a few key ant species when you are resting during a hike, taking a lunch break, or chasing ants out of the kitchen of your holiday house will help provide key data that we simply do not have at present. Please feel free to comment freely on this site, or contact us through http://www.slingsbymaps.com/contactus.aspx .
– Peter Slingsby, Zandvlei