Entomologist, interested in sustainable agriculture, pollination, applied ecology, insect behaviour and natural history in general. Working at Niab, East Malling in Kent, UK, but posting in a personal capacity. Often wrong, but usually teachable. #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent escapee from Higher Education employment. Previously at sciencemastodon.com
Entomologist, interested in sustainable agriculture, pollination, applied ecology, insect behaviour and natural history in general.
Working at Niab, East Malling in Kent, UK, but posting in a personal capacity.
Often wrong, but usually teachable.
#ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent escapee from Higher Education employment.
Previously at sciencemastodon.com
Posts
Entomologist, interested in sustainable agriculture, pollination, applied ecology, insect behaviour and natural history in general. Working at Niab, East Malling in Kent, UK, but posting in a personal capacity. Often wrong, but usually teachable. #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent escapee from Higher Education employment. Previously at sciencemastodon.com
Entomologist, interested in sustainable agriculture, pollination, applied ecology, insect behaviour and natural history in general. Working at Niab, East Malling in Kent, UK, but posting in a personal capacity. Often wrong, but usually teachable. #ActuallyAutistic #Neurodivergent escapee from Higher Education employment. Previously at sciencemastodon.com
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09425-w Wow this paper.
So:
- there's a species of ant with queens
- the queens mate with males of the same species to make more queens
- or the queens mate with males of a *totally different species that diverged millions of years ago* to make hybrid workers, that enable eusociality
- and also the queens can lay male eggs of both species of ant
Love it. Time to rethink our understanding of the concept of "species" again, I guess. I adore these sorts of examples of species that looked at the textbook, said, "Nah, that sounds dull," and then try something so mind-blowing that you wonder if they're just having a laugh.