Scientists Taku Shimada, Yuji Tanaka, and Keizo Takasuka observed this behavior while studying two species of temporary social parasites<\/a>: Lasius orientalis and L. umbratus. These invading queens infiltrate the colonies of related species, eliminate the resident queen, and then take over the entire colony. <\/p>\n Then, in an almost Shakespearean twist<\/a>, they convince the orphaned workers to raise the parasite\u2019s offspring as their own. However, what makes this finding remarkable is that the parasitic ant queens employ a kind of covert chemical weapon<\/a> to achieve this.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnts live in the world of odors,\u201d explained lead author Keizo Takasuka in a press statement. \u201cBefore infiltrating the nest, the parasitic queen stealthily acquires the colony\u2019s odor on her body from workers walking outside so that she is not recognized as the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n She then enters a host colony and approaches the resident queen, spraying jets of abdominal fluid directly onto her body. This fluid appears to be formic acid, a defensive compound that many ant species naturally produce. The spray has the effect of chemically \u201ctagging\u201d the host queen, fundamentally altering how her own workers perceive her.<\/p>\n Within moments of the spraying, host workers who would normally defend their queen begin attacking her. The workers bite and tear at their mother, sometimes severing her waist, until she dies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the parasitic ant queen quickly retreats.<\/p>\n \u201cShe knows the odor of formic acid is very dangerous, because if host workers perceive the odor, they would immediately attack her as well,\u201d Takasuka says.<\/p>\n Later, when she returns to the scene of the murder, she is accepted by the workers, who then care for her as if she were their original queen.<\/p>\n This represents the first documented case where a third party manipulates offspring into killing their mother when neither the mother nor her daughters benefit from the act. The workers lose their queen, and with her, their ability to reproduce. Yet the chemical manipulation overrides their natural protective instincts.<\/p>\n Matricide is exceptionally rare in nature. When it does occur, it typically falls into two categories: mothers who sacrifice themselves to feed their young, or adult offspring who kill their mother to gain reproductive opportunities. This newly discovered form is distinct in that it serves only the parasite.<\/p>\n The researchers believe that formic acid serves as a reprogramming agent, altering the recognition systems that normally enable workers to distinguish between nestmates and\u00a0intruders. By applying this chemical, the parasitic queen essentially rewrites the social rules of the colony.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s a sort of natural evolutionary brainwashing.<\/p>\n \t\t
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