Ant taxonomists use more than 150 terms to describe the different cuticle patterns, with different names for some subtle distinctions. “They drive people like me crazy,” he says.

Patterns formed at the microscopic scale can fulfil a range of functions, from communication with pollinators to defence against herbivores or pathogens.

Marcia M. L. Yu, Stanislav O. Konorov, H. Georg Schulze, Michael W. Blades, Robin F. B. Turner, Reinhard Jetter, In situ analysis by microspectroscopy reveals triterpenoid compositional patterns ...