Abstinent ants don't need males to reproduce
Fungus-farming ant species evolved beyond the need for males within the last 1 to 2 million years, but asexual species generally don't last very long.
By Stephanie RogersMon, Jan 11 2010 at 4:35 PM EST
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Photo: Alex Wild A species of fungus-farming ants have given up sex altogether, reproducing asexually in female-only colonies.
A team of Texan and Brazilian researchers found that Mycocepurus smithii queen ants don’t need fertilization, and probably evolved beyond the need for males within the last 1 to 2 million years.
"Animals that are completely asexual are relatively rare, which makes this is a very interesting ant," says study author Christian Rabeling of The University of Texas at Austin.
"Asexual species don't mix their genes through recombination, so you expect harmful mutations to accumulate over time and for the species to go extinct more quickly than others. They don't generally persist for very long over evolutionary time."
No males of the M. smithii species have ever been found, and under a previous study the ants reproduced asexually under laboratory conditions, with researchers noting that no amount of stress induced the insects to produce males.
Rabeling dissected reproducing M.smithii queens from Brazil, finding that their sperm storage organs were empty.
The species is likely to be completely asexual across its entire range, which includes Northern Mexico through Central America to Brazil and some Caribbean islands.
Comments
hILlbILlY
04/21/2010 23:01 PM
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Gonzobot
01/13/2010 15:51 PM
If these things are as hive-mind as they are believed to be by some scientists, and they're all genetically identical, maybe that's the secret to telepathy? Twins often claim to feel their sibling's emotions, even when separated by distance...I'm getting concerned now. These evolutionary-perfect, all-female ants could well mean the end of frakkin civilization!
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04/21/2010 22:57 PM
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