Try to imagine a species that evolved with the inability to feed itself.
How is this even possible?
Amazingly, it involves kidnapping.
The Western Amazon Ant is in a genus of ants commonly called Kidnapper Ants. They are obligatory social parasites – unable to feed themselves or even take care of the rest of the colony.
To handle these essential tasks, they are reliant on a totally different species of ant in the genus Formica.
In the beginning, a newly mated Amazon queen will enter the nest of a Formica colony and make herself at home. After releasing special pheromones as chemical warfare to conquer the Formica worker ants, she overthrows the existing queen by killing her and taking control of the colony.
As the new queen’s offspring develop and emerge, the Formica workers take care of everything -- hunting, cleaning the nest, and chewing up food to feed to their captors.
But the Formica workers won’t live forever. To ensure the Amazon ants maintain an adequate workforce they need to replenish the ranks. They embark on kidnapping raids.
Amazon scouts search for and eventually locate a suitable Formica ant colony. After rallying the troops, they storm the nest searching for the most valued prize – the Formica young. Snatching the developing pupae with their large, pointy mandibles, the kidnappers steal the other colony’s next generation for their own. Covered with the Amazon ants’ scent, the Formica young emerge as adults and unknowingly accept their captors as part of their mixed-species family.
Murdering the old queen …kidnapping …and enslaving others into a life of servitude. Seemingly all the makings of a dysfunctional family. But for the Western Amazon Ant it’s their recipe for success.