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 ...

They recently discovered that Iberian harvester ant queens are able to produce offspring of a completely different species, ...

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

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

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 ...

Queen ants in southern Europe produce male clones of an entirely different species — tearing up the playbook of reproductive biology and suggesting we need to rethink our understanding of species ...

Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK. Her focus is reporting on science, technology and healthcare. She has covered weird animal behavior, space news and the impacts of ...

The black garden queen (Lasius niger) ant plays a crucial role in the survival and growth of her colony. As the sole reproducer, she is responsible for laying thousands of eggs throughout her life, ...