Ants Break a Basic Rule of Biology to Help Them Adapt to New Environments
Researchers found social signals and hormones can reshape ant development, producing workers and soldiers with overlapping antenna sizes across 565 Pheidole species.
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4 Articles
These Giant-Headed Ants Are Breaking a Fundamental Rule of Biology
Bigger animals generally have bigger body parts, but new research reveals that certain ants defy this biological rule. In the insect world, bigger bodies usually come with bigger body parts. But some ants break this rule in an unexpected way. A massive soldier ant, equipped with an oversized head and powerful jaws, can have smaller [...]
Ants break a basic rule of biology to help them adapt to new environments
A new study led by researchers in the Eco-Evo-Devo lab at the University of Ottawa finds that ants can decouple antenna size from both head and body size as they develop into different social castes, revealing how social signals and hormones help shape traits for specialized colony roles.
Larger animals usually have larger body parts. It is one of the most famous biological patterns. However, some ants seem to break that rule.
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