First map showing ants' global locations released

The world's first-ever ant map showing the distribution of the tiny industrious creature around the globe was launched on Thursday by the University of Hong Kong in a bid to shed more light on the insect world.

The colorful interactive online map (antmaps.org), which took four years to complete, displays the geographic locations of nearly 15,000 types of ant.

The Australian state of Queensland is home to the highest number of native species at more than 1,400.