This Ant Tricks Workers Into Killing Their Own Queen
By: NDTVNewsDesk
Image: Pexels
The lasius orientalis, a parasitic ant, infiltrates another species' colony by disguising its scent.
Image: Pexels
The parasitic queen enters the host colony, spending time with workers to mimic their scent and avoid immediate attack.
Image: Pexels
She sprays the host queen with a unique chemical cocktail, likely containing formic acid, which alters the host queen's scent.
Image: Pexels
The host workers, fooled by the scent change, perceive their own queen as an intruder or threat.
Image: Pexels
The workers then attack, kill, and dismember their own queen (their mother).
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This practice is known as matricide - organisms killing or eating their mother. It is relatively rare in the animal kingdom.
Image: Pexels
With the original queen gone, the parasitic queen takes her place, and the host workers begin serving her.
Image: Pexels
They raise her offspring, effectively starting a new colony under parasitic rule.
Image: Pexels
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