Year: 2022

ANT WARS. "An entire colony enslaved by an alien species to care for their young. Slave rebellions quelled by mind manipulation. It sounds like science fiction, right? But it really happens!" https://lnkd.in/dabtbmb View in LinkedIn

SLAVE-MAKING ANTS. "Of the estimated 8,800 species of ant in the world, more than 200 species have evolved essentially unique forms of social parasitism with other ants." Two percent of ants are slave-owners. Along with the twelve US Presidents who owned slaves (12/50 Presidents = 26%). https://lnkd.in/dk9Cs-3 View in LinkedIn

INDEPENDENT EVOLUTION. "Slave making apparently has evolved independently more than ten times, with peculiar hot spots in the myrmicine tribe." https://lnkd.in/dkcthxh View in LinkedIn

THE CUCKOO STRATEGY. "A newly mated queen of the formicine ant Lasius umbratus enters the nest of its host, Lasius niger, kills the resident queen, and deposits her own eggs in the invaded nest. The host workers rear the parasite's offspring as they would their own species." http://www.jstor.org/stable/29774232?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents View in LinkedIn

EXTREME STREAMLINING. "At the other extreme of social parasitism are the inquilines, species of ant that spend their entire life cycle in the nest of the host. The inquilines' dependence on the host is typically so absolute that the loss of social functions is associated with the loss of the parasite's bodily organs." http://www.jstor.org/stable/29774232?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents View in LinkedIn

VIDEO of slave-making ants. The queen of some species of ants acts as a Trojan Horse to enter the target slave colony and gain control by absorbing the resident queen pheromones to avoid detection as an imposter. https://lnkd.in/d2iRKY8 View in LinkedIn

OUT OF RIDER HAGGARD'S SHE. "In Teleutomyrmex schneideri...not only has the entire worker caste been eliminated, but the brain, glands and feeding apparatus have also been reduced. The parasitic Teleutomyrmex queen spends much of her life riding on the back of the host queen while being fed by the workers of the host species.” If this was a horror movie you would not believe it. http://www.jstor.org/stable/29774232?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents View in LinkedIn

RARE PICTURE OF THE QUEEN of Teleutomyrmex schneideri. "The body shape of Tetramorium inquilinum is specifically adapted. The queens average 2.5 mm in length, and have a concave form and large pads and claws. Tetramorium inquilinum is frail and unable to care for itself, with mandibles too small and weak to handle anything but liquid food, sting and poison glands small, and glands that produce food for larvae and protection against bacteria are completely absent. Its exoskeleton is thin and its brain and central nerve cord are small and simplified." Uploaded on the host body. https://lnkd.in/dAZwcaV View in LinkedIn

FACE OF THE QUEEN Teleutomyrmex schneideri. This is the gnarny old girl. https://lnkd.in/drYKsKu View in LinkedIn

LIVING CHARIOTS. "Tetramorium inquilinum constantly sends chemical signals that trick host ants into accepting them as full members of the colony. Being ectoparasitic, Tetramorium inquilinum spends most of its adult life clinging to the backs of its hosts, especially queens. As many as eight have been observed piggy-backing onto a single host queen, leaving her immobile." https://lnkd.in/dGEyArn View in LinkedIn