Background: Scientists have found that queen ants of the species Messor ibericus can give birth to male ants belonging to an entirely different species (Messor structor), which challenges established understanding of how species reproduce.
- While certain ant types depend on mating between species to create hybrid worker ants, M. ibericus stands apart because queens can generate males from another species within their own colonies.
- Xenoparity: This term describes when one species gives birth to pure offspring of a completely different species – this differs from creating hybrids that show characteristics from both parents.
How Reproduction Usually Works in Ants
- Male ants typically develop from eggs that haven’t been fertilized, containing genetic material only from the mother, while female ants come from fertilized eggs with genes from both parents.
- Changed Process: Queens of M. ibericus break this pattern by removing their own genetic material from eggs and replacing it with genetic material from stored M. structor sperm.
- Evidence from Cell Components: The resulting males carry energy-producing structures (mitochondria) from the M. ibericus mother but main genetic material from M. structor fathers, showing a unique genetic combination.
- Normally, a pure M. structor male would inherit all cellular components from a M. structor mother only.
How This Process Works
- Storing Reproductive Material: During mating flights, the queen mates with males from both species and keeps their sperm in a special storage organ.
- Preparing the Egg: When making certain male eggs, the queen extracts her own genetic material while keeping the egg’s outer components and energy structures.
- Genetic Replacement: The queen then adds genetic material from the stored M. structor sperm into these prepared eggs, completely changing their programming.
- Different Species Birth: These modified eggs develop into M. structor males, despite being laid by an M. ibericus queen.
- Colony Management: These foreign males provide sperm for making hybrid worker ants, while M. ibericus sperm creates new queens, ensuring the colony has both workers and reproductive members.
About the Iberian Harvester Ant
- M. ibericus, commonly called the Iberian harvester ant, is a reddish-brown ant that collects seeds and lives in organized colonies.
- Living Areas: These ants build colonies in Mediterranean shrublands, agricultural areas, and flat coastal regions.
- Geographic Spread: These ants live throughout the Iberian Peninsula, southern parts of France, Italy, and the islands of Corsica and Sicily.
- Environmental Importance: They grind seeds into a paste that enriches soil nutrients when it decomposes.
- Food Habits: These ants mainly eat seeds, which they store in underground storage areas.
- Environmental Challenges: Farming expansion and changes in land use disturb their nest locations and food-gathering paths.
