It ’s one of those horrifying facts of nature : Ant larva eat each other . But why would a species that ’s far-famed for ego - forfeiture and cooperation also support baby cannibalism ? Scientists now believe it ’s furtive interfamilial war .
Ants will do almost anything to ensure the good of the dependency . They will work themselves to death , submerge themselves to make a path for their blighter , and evenblow themselves upas defense for the beehive . Which is why it ’s so unknown that ant larvae engage in cannibalism . hatch larvae will find eggs in their own nest and eat them to gain military capability . The behavior is just for the larva doing the feeding , but given the amount of travail that it takes to lay the nut and keep it safe , it ’s bad for the colony . What potential evolutionary welfare could this behavior have ?
scientist now believe that ant colony are a more complicated than masses realize . The cay to the mystery of cannibalism was envision out that the ant doing the cannibalizing were genetically complicated . Or , perhaps more accurately , the brood in which cannibalization occurred were genetically complicated . Ant eggs can do from many root . Each brood of eggs can be full siblings , or half sibling , or from unlike parents altogether . When the grade of relatedness is high , cannibalism is low . When there are a lot of eggs from different parents in a brood , all of a sudden the larvae start eat naked eggs . They concentre on the defenseless eggs unrelated to themselves .
These not - blood - siblings seem to be engaging in inherited rivalry from the moment they incubate . It may not leave much welfare to the total colony , but it can give each family within the colony an advantage . If they hatch early and run through everything that ’s not related to them , they can take over .
The scientist also found that male larvae go cannibal more promptly than female larva . precisely what is drive that behavior is still a mystery .
Top Image : Leaf Cutter Ants – Butterflyworld
Cannibal Larvae Image : Nick Bos
[ ViaAnt Larvae as Players In Social Conflict . ]
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