Bicolored Shield Ant

Bicolored Shield Ant

Meranoplus bicolor

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Kochi

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%

15 Verified sightings at Kochi
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Bicolored Shield Ant

Meranoplus bicolor, is a species of ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is found in many Asian countries, where its habitats range from open grasslands to open-canopy forests. They nest in soil, usually at the base of plants. The nest opening is a simple hole, but it can sometimes have multiple openings. Workers forage on the ground as well as on plants, where they exploit extrafloral nectaries and tend to aphids. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Chennai 🇮🇳 India
~20%
2 Hyderabad 🇮🇳 India
~10%
3 Kozhikode 🇮🇳 India
~10%
4 New Delhi 🇮🇳 India
~10%
5 Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~10%
6 Kollam 🇮🇳 India
~10%
7 Kuala Lumpur 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
8 Kochi 🇮🇳 India
~10%
9 Mumbai 🇮🇳 India
~10%
10 Singapore 🇸🇬 Singapore
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Bicolored Shield Ant in Kochi?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bicolored Shield Ant sighting in Kochi on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 227th most-seen of the 428 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Bicolored Shield Ant in Kochi?

September and December–April

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bicolored Shield Ant in Kochi on a given day, against under 5% in May–August and October–November, the lowest months. Those are among Kochi's driest months, with about 90 mm of rain a month against 490 mm in June.

What time of day is best to see a Bicolored Shield Ant?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bicolored Shield Ant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Kochi the best place to see a Bicolored Shield Ant?

8th of 12

Of the 12 cities where we can rate Bicolored Shield Ant sightings, Kochi ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Chennai (India, about 20%), Hyderabad (India, about 10%) and Kozhikode (India, about 10%).

Where does the Bicolored Shield Ant sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Bicolored Shield Ant is recorded against all the insects logged in Kochi (15 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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