这篇研究通过建立精细的数学模型，揭示了蚁群社会寄生（social parasitism）中Polyergus属蚂蚁通过掠夺Formica宿主蛹维持种群的生态平衡机制。研究发现宿主巢穴距离（23-73米）是决定寄生虫存活的关键空间阈值，其丰度上限被限制在群落10%以内。该模型量化了掠夺 ...

本研究针对社会寄生蚂蚁在免疫防御策略上的演化机制展开探讨。研究人员通过比较专性寄生蚁Polyergus rufescens、兼性寄生蚁Formica sanguinea及其共同宿主Formica fusca对真菌病原体Metarhizium pingshaense的防御行为，发现寄生蚁通过剥削宿主免疫服务并调整自身防御投入来 ...

In the forests of California’s Sierra Nevada, nature takes a dark, cunning turn. There’s a species of red ant, Polyergus mexicanus, that doesn’t just fight its neighbours. It kidnaps not a few, but ...

Enslaved Formica worker ants are more genetically and chemically diverse and less aggressive towards non-nest mates than free-living Formica ant colonies, according to a study published February 3, ...

If you want to get the job done, get somebody else to do it. That seems to be the motto of "slavemaker" ants, which raid the nests of other ants and steal their young. The kidnapped ants then do most ...