Ant Queen of Two Species Scientists Discover Queens Cloning Different Species!

🐜 BIOLOGY BLOWN WIDE OPEN: Scientists studying Iberian harvester ants (Messor ibericus) have uncovered a reproductive phenomenon never before seen in the animal kingdom: some queens are producing male offspring not just of their own species, but of a completely different one, Messor structor, by cloning bits of their DNA. This discovery—published in Nature—challenges what we thought we knew about species boundaries and reproduction.

🔬 Why this is wild:

Queens mate with males of another species to produce hybrid workers, but in areas with no nearby M. structor, these queens still lay eggs that develop into M. structor males—genetically cloned.

Genetic tests show: M. structor males in those colonies carry mitochondrial DNA from M. ibericus mothers, even though their nuclear DNA matches M. structor—confirming the cloning process.

Researchers have named the system “xenoparity”, meaning birth of another species. This rewrites biology textbooks.

🌍 What it means: A single species can carry, clone, and propagate another species’ males. It calls into question definitions of species, evolution, and could have implications for understanding reproduction, genetics, and biodiversity.

🔑 Keywords

ant queen two species reproduction; xenoparity discovery; Messor ibericus cloning; Messor structor male clones; hybrid worker ants; species boundary broken; cloning different species; ants genetics study; evolutionary biology surprise; animal kingdom reproductive oddity

🔥 Hashtags

AntQueen; Xenoparity; SpeciesCloning; MessorIbericus; HybridAnts; EvolutionSurprise; NatureDiscoveries; Genetics; Biodiversity; AnimalOddities

👍 If this discovery blew your mind, smash LIKE to celebrate nature’s weirdest tricks.
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💬 Comment below: Do you think other animals might have similar cloning tricks? What species would shock you most?

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🔎 Sources:

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/13/sc...