natalia maritza ladino lópez

Biology - Entomology - Myrmecology

Hi!

I am a biologist interested in entomology, particularly myrmecology and the curation of biological data and collections.

Currently, I am a Professor at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil, and the principal investigator of NEST - Núcleo de Estudos em Diversidade de Formicidae.

Here is some information on my academic career and interests for collaboration.

RESEARCH interests

Ant systematics and biogeography
Insect diversity, morphology, ecology
Field and collection-based research
Citizen science and SciComm
Curatorship/development of biological collections

CV available here

NÚCLEO DE ESTUDOS EM DIVERSIDADE DE FORMICIDAE (NEST)

Six legs down, we are ready to forage.

Find us here.

PUBLICATIONS (DM me for a personal copy)

Ramírez-Mejía, A., Sánchez, F., Urbina-Cardona, N. & Ladino, N. (accepted) Functional divergence drives the prevalence of low-abundance species in bat assemblages. Functional Ecology.
Neundorf, A., Mikich, A. ... Ladino N. et al. (2025) Ants as Flower Visitors: Diversity and Network Structure Assessed for the First Time in the Atlantic Forest of Southern Brazil. Neotropical Entomol 54, 130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-025-01340-z
Silva T. S., Ladino N., Feitosa R. M. (2025) Additions to the taxonomy of Neotropical Strumigenys (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): description of new species, terminology alignment, and etymology of the generic epithet. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 69 (4), https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9665-RBENT-2025-0006
Ladino N. (2025). Chapter 24: Keeping ants in the anthill: Seven editions of the Formigas do Brazil Course. In: Feitosa R., Schmidt F., & Ribas C. (Orgs.) Brazilian Myrmecology: Exploring the World's Richest Ant Fauna. Editora Científica Digital. https://10.37885/978-65-83998-48-4
Zefa E., Vieira J., Ladino N. et al. (2025). Integrative taxonomy of the sword-tail cricket Symphyloxiphys abbreviatus (Bruner, 1916) (Orthoptera, Grylloidea, Trigonidiidae) reveals intraspecific variation across its broad geographic range. Zootaxa 5701 (1), https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5701.1.5
Oberskii J., Griebenow Z., ...Ladino N. et al. (2025) Ant systematics: past, present, and future. Insect Systematics And Diversity, 9 (4), https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaf025
Ladino N. & Feitosa R. M. (2024) Nature's dark artistry: melanic forms discovered in two Neotropical ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 68 (4), https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9665-RBENT-2024-0068
Anjos D., Luna P., Del-Claro K., ... Ladino N. et al. (2024) Distance from nest and climate explain geographical trends of harvester ant's food resource use: a multi-species approach. Journal of Biogeography. http://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.15012
Ladino N., Feitosa R.M., de Almeida Zampaulo, R. & Lattke J.E. (2024) Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in subterranean natural cavities of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Biologia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-024-01692-8
Feitosa R. M., Silva T. S., Camacho G. P., Ulysséa M. A., Ladino N., Oliveira A. M., ... & Nogueira A. (2023) From species descriptions to diversity patterns: the validation of taxonomic data as a keystone for ant diversity studies reproducibility and accuracy. Royal Society Open Science, 10(2), 221170, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221170
Feitosa R. M., Camacho G. P., Silva T. S., Ulysséa M. A., Ladino N., Oliveira A. M., ... & Darocha W. (2022) Ants of Brazil: an overview based on 50 years of diversity studies, Systematics and Biodiversity, 20:1, DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2022.2089268
Ladino N. & Feitosa R. M. (2022) Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Parque Estadual São Camilo, an isolated Atlantic Forest remnant in western Paraná, Brazil. Zoologia (Curitiba) 39: e22001. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-4689.v39.e22001
Silva R., Martello F., ... Ladino N. et al. (2021) ATLANTIC ANTS: a data set of ants in Atlantic Forests of South America. Ecology, v. 102, p. e03580. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3580
Ladino N. & Feitosa R. M. (2020) Taxonomic revision of the genus Prionopelta Mayr, 1866 (Formicidae: Amblyoponinae) for the Neotropical region. Zootaxa, 4821 (2), 201-249. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4821.2.1
Franco W., Ladino N. ... et al. (2019) First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa, 4674 (5), 509-543. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4674.5.2
Ladino N., Jiménez E., & Yara C. (2018) Poneroid and ectatommine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in forest fragments of llanos piedmont and upper llanos of Meta, Colombia. Caldasia, 40 (2), 310-320. http://dx.doi.org/10.15446/caldasia.v40n2.65658