A study published in the journal Nature shows how genes can affect the social behavior of fire ants (Solenopsis invicta). Scientists have studied their entire social structure and come to some interesting conclusions.
The insect is endemic to South America, being found in Brazil, and is currently considered a pest impossible to control. According to the study, a change in chromosomes can divide the same species into two different forms of group behavior.
Scientists believe that this genetic change explains why some colonies have more than one queen, while others have only one. Another 500 fire-ants were analyzed.
The analysis found the exact chromosome that has two variations and how it can determine the difference in the organization of the colony. Called in the supergene study, variants B and b develop similarly to the X and Y chromosomes, which determine sex in humans.
According to the publication, the worker ants carrying the chromosome of variation B only accept queens that have the chromosome BB, while the workers with the chromosome b accepted other queens carrying the supergene Bb.
Researcher Yannick Wurm of Queen Mary's College of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, University of London, in the UK, says such differences follow patterns similar to those that occur in the formation of butterflies' wings or cancers in humans. Being one of the authors of the study, he also argues that understanding these variants helps to determine traits in the behavior of other species.
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it's cute, they are rsrs
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