Slave-making ant. (Harpagoxenus sublaevis) I have legitimately never been so terrified in awe of an
Slave-making ant. (Harpagoxenus sublaevis) I have legitimately never been so terrified in awe of an ant in my entire life. Harpagoxenus sublaevis, commonly known as the slave-making ant, is an ant species found across Europe, that literally enslaves ants of other species to provide workers for it’s own colony. What. To begin the whole enslaving shenanigan, a queen will locate the nest of some Leptothorax ants, and releases a sexual pheromone which attracts males of her species, stimulating them to mate. Once mated, the queen will invade the nest, and literally decapitate any worker ants that try and stop her. She also secretes a sticky substance which, when smeared on Leptothorax workers, causes the defending workers to attack each other. EACH OTHER. And because the stuff is so sticky, it quickly spreads from worker to worker - so the queen can just casually stroll on through all the insanity and chaos she’s created, and begin her final assault on the Leptothorax queen. Once all adult Leptothorax ants have been killed or driven away, the Harpagoxenus sublaevis queen remains with the Leptothorax brood. When they hatch, these new workers accept the Harpagoxenus sublaevis queen as their own, and start undertaking all routine tasks such as foraging, nest building and caring for the queen’s new brood. But wait, it goes on.. The Harpagoxenus sublaevis workers that hatch from this brood will then go on to in raid new nests to keep replenishing the ‘slave’ worker force. I’m really not sure what to even do with myself now. Ants, man. Ants. Image: Bernhard Seifert -- source link
#europe#harpagoxenus sublaevis#invertebrate#animals#science#zoology#zoologybro