Found throughout much of British Columbia is the slave-taking ant Polyergus breviceps. These ants attack the nests of other ant species--mostly members of what is known as the Formica fusca group, those medium sized black ants common pretty much everywhere. They kill any ants defending the raided nest, then enter and carry away the larvae and pupae. These are taken back to their own nest where they pupate into adults that will now work for their new colony.
As Polyergus ants convert members of other ant species to functional members of their own colony, perhaps they were the inspiration for The Borg of Star Trek infamy. I know of no other group of animals, other than ants, that can do this.
Odd fact: almost all of the raids carried out by Polyergus ants occur between 3 and 6pm.
Other specimens from the particular collection, of which, one member is shown here, are now in Missouri where Dr. James Trager is examining their DNA in an effort to revise the classification of Polyergus ants.
Photo credit: me
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