Mid-week Progress Post: Wood ant takeover terror!

[MikeSlugDisco]

Here we see a recently-mated wood ant queen (Formica rufa) who, having given herself the chemical scent of a black ant (Formica fusca) by rather grotesque means, has entered a black ant nest, killed its queen and taken her brood for her own. Ruthless!

It may be a rather grisly means of reproduction, but it's a testament to the success of species like Formica fusca that ants like Formica rufa sometimes rely on them for expansion.

 

[Serafine]

Haha, nice. This is really cool.

 

[mikeimp91]

Is that a social parasite? :O

 

[MikeSlugDisco]

Wood ants practice temporary parasitism - it's not long after she takes over the nest that the original workers die out, and her offspring, that have been cared for by the enslaved workers, become the only ones in the colony.