TOKYO - A report in an academic paper by ant experts describes how worker ants that normally protect their mother, maintain the nest and raise larvae can, at a certain moment, suddenly turn on the queen who gave birth to them, tearing her apart and ultimately killing her.
According to the observations presented in the study, this brutal act of matricide is triggered by two species of socially parasitic ants that manipulate another species’ colony to seize its queen’s position and eventually take control of the entire nest, revealing the specific method by which the original queen is eliminated.
The experiment showed that an invading parasitic queen first lives in advance alongside the host colony’s workers and pupae to acquire their scent, allowing her to approach the resident queen and spray what is believed to be formic acid from her abdomen onto the queen, a move that causes nearby workers to mistakenly perceive their own mother as an enemy and attack her until she is killed. Afterward, even though she is an intruder, the parasitic queen becomes the new queen of the colony, commanding the workers to serve her and raise her offspring. For a time, the two species coexist inside the nest, but as the original workers die naturally, the colony gradually shifts into a single-species community consisting only of the parasitic ants, resulting in a complete takeover. Because the parasitic species temporarily exploits the host colony’s labor and resources, the phenomenon is known as temporary social parasitism.
The findings were reported in an academic paper by Tokyo-based ant enthusiast and specialty-shop owner Taku Shimada, Hachioji resident Yushi Tanaka, and Kyushu University assistant professor Keizo Takasuka.
Source: 産経ニュース
