Researchers have discovered that male Yellow Crazy Ants have a reproductive strategy that is unheard of in other animals. Male Yellow Crazy Ants have a unique way of reproducing where they produce genetically identical offspring without mating with a female.
This phenomenon is called parthenogenesis and is seen in some plants, invertebrates, and a few species of reptiles, but not in any other animals.
The research team found that male Yellow Crazy Ants can reproduce with their own genetic material through a process called automixis, which allows the ants to produce offspring that are genetically identical to themselves.
This process is similar to self-fertilization and is only possible in species that have a special type of chromosome.
The study also found that the female Yellow Crazy Ants prefer to mate with males that have a different set of chromosomes than their own. This helps to maintain genetic diversity within the population and ensures that the offspring are more resilient to environmental changes.
Yellow Crazy Ants are an invasive species that are known to cause damage to ecosystems and agriculture. The discovery of their unique reproductive strategy could help in controlling their populations by targeting male ants instead of females.