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Polyergus is a small genus of 6 species "slave-raiding" ants, sometimes called Amazon ants or Legionnaire ants. Its workers are largely incapable of caring for the colony due to their oversized mandibles. The species subsists as a social parasite, enslaving ants of the closely related genus Formica in massive colony-to-colony raids. They achieve this by stealing the unhatched eggs from the brooding chamber of the Formica ant colony and carrying them back to their own nest and wait for them to hatch. Once born, the Formica ants are covered in Amazon ant pheromones so that they believe themselves to be part of the thieving colony. The newly hatched ants then forage, nurse, and perform other colony upkeep duties. New queens will enter foreign colonies of other species, kill the existing queen, and force the colony's workers to care for her brood.
[edit] Selected Species
- Polyergus breviceps
- Polyergus rufescens
[edit] References
