This Ant Species Produces Only Queens!
DOGO News • • science
Key Points:
- Temnothorax kinomurai (T. kinomurai) is a social parasite ant species whose queens do not form their own colonies but instead invade and take over nests of a related species, T. makora.
- Successful T. kinomurai queens kill the resident queen and trick host workers into raising the parasite’s offspring, maintaining control of the colony undetected.
- Researchers discovered that T. kinomurai queens produce only female offspring (queens) through a form of asexual reproduction, allowing new queens to be nearly identical to their mothers.
- Laboratory and field studies confirmed that all offspring were queens, and some successfully invaded T. makora colonies to continue the parasitic cycle.
- This rare species has been found in only nine locations in Japan, limiting its impact on most ant colonies.