# Check Ant Names

An app to search for valid ant names

Today I want to share with you a new application that allows you to check the current status of the scientific name of some ant.

👉 https://andres-snchz.shinyapps.io/check_ant_names/

To study ants some excellent resources are available. Among these is the AntCat.org catalog (online version of Bolton’s) which maintains an up-to-date database of ant taxonomy. By searching for the name of any ant in this catalog you can easily find all the taxonomic information of the species and related literature. So why make an application to search for the validity of the names? Checking the name of an ant or even if it is spelled correctly with a few names is a simple task in AntCat. However, when it is a long list of names it can be a time consuming task. For this reason I developed this application.

This application searches for the taxonomic status and valid name of the ant species entered using a function that searches for the reference through the API of AntCat.org. The information obtained through this tool must be cited in relation to the Bolton catalog at AntCat.org, as well the references of each taxon.

Developed in R with the packages httr and jsonlite in Shiny.

It has already been successfully tested by some myrmecologist colleagues, although it manages to solve most cases there are still some that are difficult. In the application you will find instructions for its use. I welcome any feedback to improve it. At some point I will upload to github all the code for whoever is interested.