Ants Exploiting Ants

Abstract

Perhaps the most sophisticated tools for dissecting the social structure of ants are those ants that exploit other ants. These exploiters range from ants that merely rob others to those that use common trail systems, while yet more devious forms share both the nests and the food supply of their hosts. Some species of ants are temporary parasites and produce normal workers which gradually take over the economy of established colonies of other species. There are also permanent parasites such as inquiline queens who behave as ‘cuckoo ants’, dispensing with a workforce altogether and using other colonies to raise their sexual offspring. Another form of permanent parasites are the slave-makers; these produce specialized fighting workers who kidnap the pupae of other species and use the adult workers that develop from this hostage brood as a slave workforce. All of these relationships involve opening up the communication systems of the exploited species. We will now explore how this is done.