Slave workers have to care for the brood in parasite nests, bring food to their masters and feed them, and even defend the nest. From the perspective of evolutionary history, the American slave-making ant Protomognathus americanus is an old social parasite that is entirely dependent on other ant species for its survival. More than half of all animal species live in parasitic relationships, i.e. This presumably reduces the strength of the parasites in the area and thereby increases the chances of survival for the neighboring colonies populated by the slave ants' relatives. As a result, an average of only 45 percent of the parasite's offspring survived.
states of West Virginia, New York, and Ohio, enslaved Temnothorax longispinosus workers have been observed to neglect and kill the offspring of their Protomognathus americanus slavemakers rather than care for them. In fact, in three different populations in the U.S. According to the latest findings, however, this behavior now appears to be a widespread characteristic that is not limited to isolated occurrences. Susanne Foitzik of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany first observed this "slave rebellion" phenomenon in 2009. Ants that are held as slaves in nests of other ant species damage their oppressors through acts of sabotage.
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