By Stephen Beech

Ants use 'chemical warfare' to compel host workers to kill their own queen, reveals new research.

Scientists have observed for the first time an invading ant queen using a chemical spray to compel host workers into murdering their own mother.

They explained that in the ruthless world of parasitic ants , taking over a host colony is a matter of life and death.

The conventional understanding had been that an invading queen must physically fight and kill the resident queen to seize control.

But the new study, published in the journal Current Biology , details a more "sinister" strategy - a parasitic ant queen that chemically manipulates the host colony’s workers into executing their own mother.

Corresponding author Assistant Professor Keizo Takasuka, of Kyushu Uni

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