Ants of Slave Traders
The relationship between the parasitic ant, Formica subintegra, and its slave, Formica subserica, is amazing because it shows the influence of chemical signals on the social life of ants. "Slavery" is one of the most intelligent and probably most interesting tactics of ant war.
Sometimes, when the soldiers of a colony realize that they can defeat other colonies easily, they start looking for slaves. They attack other colony's nests, kill the queen, and rob the "pots of honey" containing nectar - meaning the ants whose bodies contain nectar. The most important thing is, they kidnap the larvae of the queen he killed. These larvae later developed into young ants, who became "slave ants". Slave ants are in charge of caring for an ant's child and searching and storing food for the colony that defeats him.
When an ant colony is attacked by a parasitic ant, their army ants are unable to prevent the theft of their eggs and pupae from pheromones from parasitic ants. These pheromones are similar to the substances they produce themselves, which are used for hazard warnings. Therefore, when this substance is expelled by large parasitic ants, ant colonies attacked by parasitic ants will escape, not protecting their colonies.
defeat other colonies easily, they start looking for slaves. They attack other colony's nests, kill the queen, and. They attack other colony's nests, kill the queen, and rob the "pots of honey" containing nectar - meaning the ants whose bodies contain nectar. The most im
As is known, each ant species emits different pheromones. These pheromones are used to mark the territory, gather information about the location and number of enemies, as commandos to attack in war, as well as alarm.
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