Live
- Samajwadi Party slams UP govt over Sambhal violence, calls it orchestrated
- BGT 2024-25: Very proud of the way we came back after being put under pressure, says Bumrah
- CBI gets evidence about circulation of expired medicines on RG Kar campus
- Now complaint filed with Governor against Karnataka Minister M.B. Patil
- Ragging Scandal at Khammam Medical College: Professor Faces Action for Shaving Student’s Head
- More Waqf notices issued during BJP's tenure: Karnataka HM on statewide stir plans
- More Waqf notices issued during BJP's tenure: K'taka HM on statewide stir plans
- Rohit Sharma Spotted with Team as India Wins First Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy
- Post-poll violence breaks out in Jharkhand after announcement of results
- Abhishek Bachchan's Marriage Rumors, Vivek Oberoi's Luxury Car, and BLACKPINK's Solo Success – Here's What's Trending!
Newly discovered deviant ant species!
People often say that what you are looking for is usually right in front of you. Researchers from the George Washington University in the US faced the same predicament when they discovered an ant species, Cephalotes specularis, hiding in plain sight.
Washington: People often say that what you are looking for is usually right in front of you. Researchers from the George Washington University in the US faced the same predicament when they discovered an ant species, Cephalotes specularis, hiding in plain sight.
Mirror turtle ants are the first known ant species to use visual mimicry to parasitise another ant species.
Cephalotes specularis can enter the territory of C ampla, another species of ants and dodge the host ants by not letting the latter detect their scent.
By mimicking C ampla, this new species can access their food and follow their foraging trails to food sources. Literally, they can steal food from an enemy.
"I did a true double take when I first saw this new species," said Scott Powell, an assistant professor of biology at the George Washington University, who discovered the species.
"As I turned away, after seeing what appeared to be large numbers of host foragers, it registered that a couple of the ants I had just laid eyes on were not quite like the others. Turning back around, I managed to re-find the few peculiar ants in the masses of host ants, and everything followed from there," added Powell.
Additional research conducted after the initial discovery revealed that 89 percent of host territories were parasitised.
Powell calls the discovery one of his most exciting finds and sees this as an opportunity to learn more about the evolution of parasitism.
