Tag Archives | ant

ant_smithii

Ant species goes female-only

It was thought that all social insect species could produce, when needed, a crop of males who would go forth and fertilize new queens, but US and Brazilian researchers now say the antMycocepurus smithii reproduces without fertilization and males of the species are nonexistent. “Animals that are completely asexual are relatively rare, which makes this […]

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brain_mind_small

Ants trump humans in decision-making

Presenting their findings in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, US researchers contend that ants can accomplish a task more rationally than humans. The scientists, from Arizona State University (ASU) and Princeton University, explain that it is not the case of humans being “stupider” than ants, rather that humans often make irrational […]

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nematode_parasite

Parasite Turns Ants Fruity

A newly discovered parasite so dramatically transforms its host, an ant, that the ant comes to resemble a juicy red berry, according to a report in The American Naturalist. Biologists believe that the fruit mimicry caused by the parasite tricks birds into eating infected ants – parasites and all – so that the bird can […]

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