Biodiversity-threat

Guides

• Pheidole megacephala

  big-headed ant, coastal brown ant, African big-headed ant

  Pheidole megacephala is a highly successful invasive ant species native to tropical Africa, considered among the world's worst invasive organisms. It exhibits true worker dimorphism with distinct major and minor worker castes, the former bearing disproportionately large heads used for crushing food. The species forms expansive supercolonies through budding reproduction, enabling rapid territorial expansion. It has spread globally to tropical and subtropical regions, where it aggressively displaces native ant faunas and disrupts ecosystem function through generalist predation and mutualistic associations with sap-sucking insects.

  invasive-speciesworker-dimorphismsupercolonytramp-antagricultural-pestbiodiversity-threatgeneralist-predatormutualism-with-hemipterans

• Sarcoptidae

  Itch Mites

  Sarcoptidae is a family of parasitic mites in the order Sarcoptiformes, commonly known as itch mites. The family includes the genus Sarcoptes, whose members cause sarcoptic mange in mammals. These mites are obligate parasites that burrow into host skin, causing intense pruritus, crusting lesions, and potentially fatal secondary infections. Sarcoptes scabiei, the most studied species, infests over 200 million humans worldwide and numerous domestic and wild mammal species.

  parasitemitescabiesmangezoonosisveterinarywildlife-diseaseneglected-tropical-diseaseburrowingepidermal-parasitedirect-life-cyclehost-specific-strainsimmunologyemerging-infectious-diseasebiodiversity-threatcross-species-transmissionferal-dog-reservoirquantitative-surveillancetissue-digestion-protocolivermectin-treatmentcrusted-scabiesordinary-scabiespruritusalopeciahyperkeratosissecondary-bacterial-infectionWHO-neglected-tropical-diseaseover-200-million-human-casesmammalian-host-specificityAstigmataSarcoptiformesArachnidaAcari