Iberian harvester ant queens produce offspring of their own species and of the builder harvester ant, seemingly by cloning ...

She then draws from this sperm stash to lay new eggs containing one of three types of offspring: queens, workers or males. However, Iberian harvester ants mating with males of their own species can ...

Researchers have uncovered an unusual survival strategy in Iberian harvester ants that turns basic biology on its head: The queens can produce eggs that develop into two different ant species. A team ...

Ant colonies are highly structured societies where most members are sterile female workers. Queens typically mate once in ...

This process—the team dubs it “xenoparous,” meaning that an organism gives birth to another species as part of its life cycle ...

Bizarrely, Iberian harvester ant queens lay eggs that turn into male builder harvester ants, and some of her offspring are hybrids of the two species ...