Coleção de referência do Laboratório de Mirmecologia do Alto Tietê, São Paulo, Brasil: status atual e perspectivas

Reference collections are important repositories of the biodiversity. They contain representative samples and biological information of specific regions, which can be used to a variety of scientific studies. The collection of the Alto Tiete Myrmecology Laboratory is one of the most important ant regional collections for taxonomic and ecological studies. Currently, it counts with 243 species/morphospecies of ants occurring in different areas of the Atlantic Forest of Alto Tiete (SP). Although it is a small collection, it comes from standardized samplings, which is also true for the entire morphospecies repository. The collection has already generated many publications in different areas of knowledge, and it has also contributed in the training of professionals working in formal and non-formal research and education.