'When it comes to ants,' Dr. Kiko Gómez says, 'it’s important to know what you don’t know.' The ant genus Pheidole contains over 1,000 species, and is found across the world. But what does it mean to find a new species in this genus? In this episode, Kiko shares his experience collecting and identifying Pheidole ants in the Ivory Coast. He tells us what it’s like to visit the amazing Taï National Park, how myrmecologists differentiate between worker, soldier, and other ant designations, and what makes his group of ants unique from the rest. Do you want to share your thoughts on the podcast? Please do so here: https://forms.gle/fnXUuiNknRFadXWj6 I really appreciate the responses, and I’m working hard to make them happen. Expect bonus content, episode transcripts, a website, and more coming soon. If you’d like to support the podcast, please consider giving us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or supporting us on Patreon to get access to that bonus content. Even $1-2 a month really helps keep the podcast going! https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod Book mentioned: Journey to the Ants by Bert Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson Found here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/journey-to-the-ants-a-story-of-scientific-exploration-edward-o-wilson/6711464?ean=9780674485266 Kiko Gómez’s paper Pheidole klaman sp. nov.: a new addition from Ivory Coast to the Afrotropical pulchella species group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) is in the June 20th 2022 issue of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1104.81562 New Species: Pheidole klaman Episode image courtesy of Kiko Gomez Find Kiko on Instagram: @netodejulilla Virtual 3D data of the major worker holotype (CASENT0764691) and two minor worker paratypes (CASENT0764692 & CASENT0745509) can be found on Dryad (doi: 10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r1k) Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected] If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod