Clonal Raider Ants Mutation Affects Their Behavior, Will This Lead to Parasite Species Evolution?

Due to their overall significance to biodiversity, ants have become the subject of scientific studies focusing on their behavior, development, and social interaction. Size, genetic composition, and the age structure of colonies are vital in determining the ant's individual behavior, division of work, and social connections. The insights gathered from these studies provide an understanding of the evolution of social behavior.

(Photo: Unsplash/ Ankur Dutta)

An Encounter With Strange Ants

A species of ants known as Ooceraea biroi has been discovered to show odd appearances, social behaviors, and reproductive traits. Commonly known as clonal raider ants, each individual of this species seems to look like the queen. They are small, like worker ants, but with small wing buds which are unusual since only the queen ant develops wings. They also have different social behaviors, large ovaries, and the ability to lay twice as many eggs. Since these insects reproduce asexually, their colony comprises members with nearly perfect genetic clones.

Researcher Daniel Kronauer established a laboratory at Rockefeller University where he investigated the social evolution and behavior within ant societies. In his study published by Rockefeller University, an integrative approach was used to understand the role of natural selection in shaping the evolution of insect societies. The effect of regulating the levels of genes, individuals, and colonies on the insect's social life is also described.

The laboratory conducted the study by combining molecular genetics and neuroscience with quantitative behavioral and morphological dimensions under controlled conditions. These behaviors are traced in a stretch of DNA sample. Unlike the DNA of ordinary ants, the DNA of the two copies of chromosome 13 of miniature-queen ants are identical.

Kronauer reported that these odd behaviors are due to a collection of genes inherited by ants as a unit and are very resistant to damage. Known as supergenes, the ants acquired these at some point in their evolution and caused a chromosomal change that transformed their bodies.

This study shows the complexity of an organism's combined body parts and behaviors, which can sometimes appear simultaneously in evolution. It seems to answer the mystery of the emergence of social parasites in a group of insects. It also enlightens the question regarding the differences between individuals in a single species.

Clonal Raider Ants as Research Subjects

Due to their complex social integration, insect colonies are considered superorganisms. A new model for social and behavioral genetics is needed to better understand these social systems' composition and network structure.

As an introduced species. the clonal raider ant is chosen as a good model system due to its unusual biology and experimental accessibility. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, clonal raider ants share several features of their biology with other ants, which makes them important organisms in developing methods for controlling potentially dangerous introduced organisms.

Although the species is native to Mainland Asia, clonal raider ant has become invasive in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the globe. Scientists assumed human activity introduced it to other parts of the world.