A sneaky, stealthy parasite queen can flip an ant colony in opposition to itself. Newly-mated queens of two parasitic ant species have been discovered to sneak into an ant colony, creep in the direction of the resident ant queen, and spray a chemical to set off matricide, i.e., tricking ants into slaughtering their very own mom so she will take over the colony.
Matricide is a uncommon phenomenon in nature, seldom noticed, particularly amongst animals that obtain substantial advantages from maternal care. Whereas some bugs could kill their queen below sure circumstances, these often serve the evolutionary pursuits of the employees. However, on this newly found case, the queen elimination in Lasius flavus and Lasius japonicus species arises in a parasitic context, triggered by the invading ant queens from different species – Lasius orientalis or Lasius umbratus.
“I first discovered of induced matricide – and I used to be so surprised that I used to be perplexed for some time,” says the research lead writer, Keizo Takasuka, in an electronic mail to New Atlas.
Of their new research, Takasuka and her colleagues describe an intriguing type of social parasitism within the journal Present Biology. The researchers examined the 2 parasitic ants, L. orientalis and L. umbratus. After mating, these queen ants began their seek for a bunch colony, corresponding to L. flavus and L. japonicus, and purchased the host odor by way of direct bodily contact with a bunch employee.
After absorbing the host colony’s scent, the invading queen wanders unnoticed by way of the nest like an undercover spy to find the resident queen. On getting nearer to the resident queen, she bends her metasoma (stomach) and sprays an unidentified fluid on the host queen. Researchers hypothesize the sprayed fluid is formic acid.
“Formic acid is a trademark secretion of the subfamily Formicinae – the group to which Lasius belongs. Provided that formicine ants actively use formic acid for numerous functions, it’s a parsimonious speculation that the sprayed fluid right here can be formic acid,” Takasuka tells us.
Instantly after the spray, the host employees turn out to be agitated by the odor of the formic acid and start attacking their very own mom queen. Takasuka says that the fluid successfully turns the host queen right into a perceived menace, a high-priority enemy, somewhat than merely elevating normal aggression.
The parasitic ant then repeatedly sprays the host queen each few hours. The employee ant assaults on their queen get extra intense with every spray. The research recorded virtually 15 sprays from the parasitic queen earlier than the host employees killed and dismantled their mom.
Inside 10 days of this matricide, the rival queen begins laying eggs and is accepted as a brand new queen of the colony.
“I see it simply as an enchanting, brutal survival technique,” Takasuka advised us.
Takasuka says that non permanent social parasitism has advanced twice inside Lasius, and induced matricide seems to have advanced independently in these lineages as nicely. This means that when a parasite possesses a chemical or spraying mechanism that may trick the host employees into perceiving their very own queen as an enemy, oblique queen-killing can obtain the objective of colony takeover at a decrease threat than direct assault. This gives favorable situations that desire the evolution of induced matricide.
The research was revealed within the journal Current Biology.
