While animal mothers are known to sometimes dispatch of their young, very few animals will kill their own mother: the care she gives is just too valuable. But it turns out some ants can be tricked into matricide, killing their own queen, and scientists have captured the chilling coup on video.
This insurrection is orchestrated by an outsider ant – a parasitic queen from either the Lasius orientalis or L. umbratus species, who sneaks into a colony of L. flavus or L. ****** onicus ants before wreaking havoc.
Related: Ant Queens Produce Offspring of Two Different Species, Stunning Scientists
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