Frankenstein ants created by scientists

Scientists have bred supersoldier ants with enlarged heads and jaws by using ancient genes to trigger development.

A 'supersoldier' ant with a minor worker from the same colony

The monster ants, which use their size to protect the entrance to their nests, are a throwback to their ancestors that lived millions of years ago.

Supersoldier ants can be born naturally but are rare. They breed in the deserts of American and Mexico where they have evolved to protect their colony from invading ants.

But the man-made specimens were created from ordinary Pheidole morrisi ants, which contain the genetic tools necessary to develop into supersoldier ants.

Scientists in Canada used a special hormone on the larvae of ordinary worker ants to create the monster ants.

The research was published in the Science journal.

Authors Dr Rajendhran Rajakumar, from McGill University, Canada, and colleagues wrote: "We uncovered an ancestral development potential to produce a novel supersoldier subcaste that has been retained throughout a hyperdiverse ant genus that evolved 35 to 60 million years ago."
The results suggest that holding on to ancestral development tool kits may play an important role in evolving new physical traits, say the researchers.