Surveying Ant Fauna in Northern Espírito Santo, Brazil: New Distribution Records From the Coleção Zoológica Norte Capixaba

In Brazil, the Atlantic Forest biome faces significant threats due to urban expansion and deforestation, resulting in a loss of species diversity. Biological collections represent a valuable tool and the best way to preserve population data on species in a specific region. The Coleção Zoológica Norte Capixaba (CZNC) is located in the North of Espírito Santo, serving as a reference zoological collection for the region, and has significant potential to enhance the knowledge of local fauna, particularly ant fauna. The present study aims to survey ant species in the northern region of Espírito Santo deposited in the CZNC. The identification and morphospeciation of ants were carried out using specialized taxonomic literature, identification keys, morphological character analysis, and online databases, such as AntWeb and AntCat, following established protocols for species delimitation. A list of CZNC species is presented, and new records for the state are highlighted, photographed, and added to AntWeb (an electronic database for ants). A total of 135 ant species recorded in Espírito Santo were deposited in CZNC, with the Myrmicinae subfamily being the most representative. Conceição da Barra had the most records among the sampled cities. Although Espirito Santo has 78 municipalities, records were available for only seven of them, indicating possible undersampling with the potential to exceed the current number of 227 recorded species. Twelve species were new records for Espírito Santo. The study findings show how the CZNC represents a valuable source of knowledge about myrmecofauna, enriching the repertoire of records from this poorly studied state for the group and highlighting the diversity of species the region is home to.