Queen ants, the only individuals in a colony that can lay eggs, can also live for decades—up to 10 times longer than workers. But for years, scientists didn’t understand why. A new study published ...

In the clonal raider ant (Ooceraea biroi), workers in a colony alternate between caring for larvae and laying eggs in a coordinated cycle. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology ...

Male yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes) are chimeras of two separate genetic lineages, researchers report in a study that reveals a unique mode of reproduction in this species – one previously ...

In many animals, having many offspring is linked to a shorter lifespan. This is largely because animals that bear many offspring allocate nutritional and metabolic resources for reproduction at the ...

In ant society, workers normally give up reproducing themselves to care for their queen's offspring, who are their brothers and sisters. When workers try to cheat and have their own kids in the ...