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Formica parasite/host polygyne scenario question

Started By AntsDakota , Jun 6 2020 3:59 PM

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#1 Offline AntsDakota - Posted June 6 2020 - 3:59 PM

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LocationSioux Falls, South Dakota

So, I was just curious about Formica social parasites. I was wondering if, say, you have a mature F. montana colony with 5 queens, and that colony is infiltrated by a single parasitic queen. My question is, would the queen simply kill one host queen and leave the rest alone, or would she hunt down every last queen and kill them all?

"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version

#2 Offline Nare - Posted June 6 2020 - 4:06 PM

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Most parasites would kill all 5 queens I'd assume. I've heard Formica uralensis queens might coexist in host colonies (rather what I heard is that host colonies adopt uralensis queens and so presumably the parasites coexist with the hosts), but I think it unlikely that anything over here isn't going to just go ahead and kill all 5 queens. Much safer to take brood from the large colony and give it to the parasite.