'Western salary of women' in the ant world

US scientists have found a tropical ant species reproduce without mating with males. Their team is full of ants.

An ant Mycocepurus smithii.Photo: Telegraph.

Dr. Anna Himler, a biologist at the University of Arizona (USA) and colleagues discovered ants of the whole female in the Amazon forest in South America. It is the species Mycocepurus smithii. DNA analyzes show that the genes of all ants in the nest have the same structure as the queen ants, meaning that the queen ants replicated themselves to create members of the herd. When carrying out the ants surgery, experts found they could not mate because an important part of their reproductive system was degenerated.

Asexual reproduction (no mating) is a common phenomenon in the ant world, but this is the first time scientists have found a species without a male. Some ants still produce males from unfertilized eggs, but 'producing' females from such eggs is extremely rare.

'The insects that live collectively have many types of reproduction, but Mycocepurus smithii is the most distinctive species we have ever known,' said Himler. According to him, non-sexual life offers several advantages for ants as they will never be in a stressful state due to the search for males to mate. Since females are not competing for males, peace in the ants will be maintained permanently.

'Since it is not necessary to create males, the number of ants will double during each birth,' Himler said. Until now, scientists still believe that asexual reproduction goes against the law of evolution because it eliminates the phenomenon of genetic modification - an essential factor for the survival of all species.

'Sexual reproduction (having mating) brings great benefits to the next generation thanks to the combination of genes. The more diverse your genetic resources are, the more likely you are to fight diseases and parasites. In a group of asexual ants, if an individual is attacked by a parasite, all members of the nest will become infected. If you are created by that method, you won't be able to live long , 'explains Laurent Keller, an insect specialist at the University of Lausanne (USA).

Professor Keller also points out that social insects, like ants, can quickly adapt to asexual reproduction because it allows queens to control the sex of all the "people" in the herd.

Dr. Himler's team will continue to learn to see if bacteria are the cause of ants to reproduce asexually. In addition, they will also use antibiotics and change the food of Mycocepurus smithii (mushroom) in hopes that it can help them produce males.