Antkey: Designing an interactive identification guide to invasive ants using next-generation web tools

Early and accurate detection of invasive species is critical for successful management and eradication actions. Detection of non-native ants in particularly difficult because of their small size and overwhelming taxonomic diversity. Over 15,000 species of ants have been described, and more than 200 have established populations outside of their native ranges. A small subset of these has become highly destructive invaders including five which are currently listed among the world’s 100 worst invasive species. Antkey.org seeks to mitigate the spread of established introduced ants and prevent the incursion of new introductions by providing quarantine personnel, inspectors and conservation biologists with a user-friendly identification resource specifically designed for non-specialists. The Antkey website, which is being designed using the Scratchpads 2 platform, focuses on over 120 ant species that are introduced, invasive or commonly intercepted across the globe. Features include an interactive matrix key, dynamically generated species pages, a searchable media collection of over 1150 images, over 70 live video clips of introduced ants, a fully illustrated glossary with over 400 terms, a searchable database of introduced ant literature, over 12,000 specimen records.