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Polyergus breviceps
''Polyergus breviceps'' is a species of ant which is endemic to the United States. It is a social parasite of other ants, namely of ''Formica gnava'' but also of ''Formica occulta'' and ''Formica argentea''. ''Polyergus'' is an inquiline parasite, having lost its ability to take care of its young and themselves. "The workers do not forage for food, feed the young or the queen, or even clean up their own nest". In order to survive, ''Polyergus'' workers raid ''Formica'' nests in order to steal the pupae which once hatched, become workers of the mixed nest. This sort of relationship is not unique, of the approximately 8,800 species of ants, at least 200 have evolved some form of symbiotic relationship with one another.〔 What makes ''Polyergus'' special is the way a newly mated queen can, all by herself, take over a ''Formica'' nest and start a new colony.
==Slave raids and colony takeovers==
''Polyergus'' workers will emerge from their nest (a mixed nest where ''Formica'' workers are already enslaved) and forage for a suitable raid target. If one is found, the scouts will return to the nest, rally the other ''Polyergus'', and head out in a raiding column. If it was a ''Formica'' nest, the ''Polyergus'' incite a "panic-flee" response from the ''Formica'' by releasing formic acid and take the ''Formica'' pupae back to their nest to be slaves. Occasionally, a new queen will embark on a raiding column with the other ''Polyergus''. She will then, after mating, leave the column and forage for a suitable ''Formica'' nest.〔 Howard Topoff did a considerable amount of work in evaluating how the queen then takes over the colony. After finding a ''Formica'' nest, she finds an entrance and is immediately attacked by ''Formica'' worker. The queen responds by biting with her sharp mandibles and releasing a pheromone from her enlarged Dufour's gland that, unlike many other parasitic ants, has a pacifying effect. The queen quickly searches for and locates the ''Formica'' queen and, with her adapted mandibles, proceeds to bite and lick various parts the ''Formica'' queen for an average of 25 minutes. "Within seconds of the host queens death, the nest undergoes a most remarkable transformation".〔 The ''Formica'' workers cease to be aggressive to the intruder and start to groom the ''Polyergus'' queen as if it were their own.〔 The takeover now complete, the ''Polyergus'' queen gains not only a nest, but a worker caste as well. She then lays her eggs and the cycle continues.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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