Saturday, October 13, 2012

Ants take slaves. Sometimes, the slaves even rebel.

Ants take slaves. Sometimes, the slaves even rebel.

If you read enough of this website, you know ants can lift twenty times their bodyweight and that they build and designate graveyards. Now you’re about to learn that they take slaves too.

The biggest question must be “What does an entire species built on being 100% subservient to one master need slaves for?” The answer is cooler than you might
have guessed. The slave ants go on violent raids of nests of other species, killing the residents and kidnapping the larva.

The kidnapped larva then grow up to become slaves too- even if they’re totally different species. That’s how the slavery continues. However, it should be noted that some slaves rebel and kill the pupae of their captors in an attempt to put a stop to it all.

source : http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/04/01/the-rebellion-of-the-ant-slaves/

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