社会寄生性ケアリ2種はホストワーカーに実母である女王の殺害を強要する～望まぬ娘に実母を殺させる教唆(きょうさ)型寄主操作の発見～

2025-11-18 九州大学

(左から)蟻酸噴射によりすでに娘のワーカーに襲われているキイロ女王に追加の蟻酸噴射をするテラニシ、ホストワーカーに解体されたキイロ女王、トビケ女王に蟻酸噴射するアメケ、娘のワーカーから攻撃を受けるトビケ女王

<関連情報>

• https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/researches/view/1341
• https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/f/63906/25_1113_02.pdf
• https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01207-2

社会的に寄生する女王アリは、宿主の働きアリの女王アリ殺しを化学的に誘発する Socially parasitic ant queens chemically induce queen-matricide in host workers

Taku Shimada ∙ Yuji Tanaka ∙ Keizo Takasuka
Current Biology  Published:November 17, 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.09.037

Summary

Matricide — the killing of a mother by her own genetic offspring — is rarely observed in nature, but not unheard-of. Among animal species in which offspring remain with their mothers, the benefits gained from maternal care are so substantial¹ that eliminating the mother almost never pays, making matricide vastly rarer than infanticide. Here, we report matricidal behavior in two ant species, Lasius flavus and Lasius japonicus, where workers kill resident queens (their mothers) after the latter have been sprayed with abdominal fluid by parasitic ant queens of the ants Lasius orientalis and Lasius umbratus.