One mother for two sons of a different species: a feat achieved by ants

The photo may seem innocuous. On the left, a harvester ant Messor ibericus ; on the right, its distant cousin Messor structor . The difference between these two males remains subtle. It is mainly due to hairiness. On closer inspection, we can also see a brighter cuticle; on the right, a more rounded thorax, and even a slightly larger size. This is hardly surprising: these two species diverged 5 million years ago and have therefore had time to evolve independently. Except that these two individuals have the same mother. Not due to any human manipulation: no, this reality is found in nature, almost under our feet, since it takes place in the south of France and throughout the Mediterranean arc.

Researchers from the University of Montpellier announced this in Nature on September 3. "Almost unbelievable," The British journal, not known for its sensationalism, pointed out in the title of its review. The researchers established that M. ibericus colonies bred a line of M. structor males so that the queens could give birth to these individuals of a different species. During this process, the queen eliminates her own genes. She produces these foreign sons by cloning. They are therefore genetically identical to their father.

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