A mother can give birth to offspring of different speciesat the same time? Can two brothers therefore belong to two different species, despite having the same mother? Apparently, yes, if you are an ant. A new research published in the magazine Nature In September 2025 (“One Mother for Two Species via Obligate Cross-Species Cloning in Ants”) highlights a fascinating case that binds the genetic and population study: that of Iberian harvest ants. It has been discovered that the species Mesor Ibericus, It originates offspring belonging to both the parent species and another species called Mesor Structor. Same genre therefore (Mesor), but evolutionary groups distinct, separated by beyond 5 million years of evolution And that occupy areas (distribution areas) which are still, mostly distinct. The queen of the Iberian ant is, in fact, able to lay the eggs of the Two distinct species guaranteeing social structure within the colony: it mates with male of another species that then cloneto create workers’ ants. This is the first case described in sexual parasitism in the animal kingdom, a discovery that is giving a hard time to zoologists and geneticists, forcing the scientific community to review the old dogmas of biology.
Different ants … not only at a glance
At school they teach us that in nature there are many types of reproduction, that organisms can be aploid, diploids, polyploids, which they have complex life cycleslanguages and social structures that we can barely understand. Of one thing, however, we are almost certain: from a species a new body can always and the same only and only of the same species. We know about the existence of hybrids and so far everything is ok, but the logic falters when it turns out that A mother can have offspring for “half” of the same species and for “half” of another. It would be like saying that a horse can give birth to both horses and zebras, just to say one.
Observing some anthills, the evolutionist biologist Jonathan Romiguier and his team ofMontpellier University they noticed some important differences in individuals of M. Ibericusthe Iberian harvest form. We are not talking about the typical differences between the Queen and her host of workers, but of something much more intricate.
Although they are rather well -known organisms in the biological field, they do not stop amaze: some male (in numerical minority compared to females) were covered by one very thick hairothers were glabrous. But that’s not all. The analysis of individuals revealed a huge difference in theirs genetic imprint: hairy males belonged to the species investigated while the glabrous ones at oneanother species, Mesor Structor.
Intrigued, the researchers carried out even more in -depth analyzes: the DNA examined shows that the ants workers, all hybridsthey must have had a Iberian queen for mother M. Ibericus and for father a male of M. Structor.
Nothing apparently too unusual, if it were not that the populations of M. Structor do not match the areas, distribution areas, of M. Ibericus. The question is therefore spontaneous: if they live in different areas, where do the males of the two species come from? From the same motherthe Queen, who gave birth to male of two distinct species.
The reproduction that challenges the laws of biology
The world of insects is very complex and includes reproductive methods ranging from cloning (asexual reproduction) in various mutual methods (sexual reproduction) in which the union of the male with the female is envisaged. In the case of ants it is during the wedding flight that the queen mates with winged males, Then keeping the male seed For the entire duration of his life. In our case, however, the starting pair is not made up of individuals of the same species but by individuals of different species.
According to the researchers, the queens M. Ibericus they need males M. Structor To give life to the workersbut first these males must “create” themselves using the preserved sperm, in fact, cloning them. Thanks to some still little known trials, Queen clones the preserved Spermatic DNA, removes its genetic material And it lays the eggs that, once hatched, give life to a male of another species (different from that of the mother). This mechanism, defined interspecies cloningprovides for “prisoner male children” and who are interdependent from the mother and colony itself.
It is therefore possible Create hybrids starting only from a female? It seems like yes. To have a confirmation of this, the research team has recovered, observed and monitored some laboratory queens in the total absence of males. The results confirmed what has been said: The queens of the species M. Ibericus have been able to generate, without any partnerof male individuals belonging to another species, M. Structorof male individuals M. Ibericus and the hybrid caste of the workers.
Evolutionary and xenoparity hypothesis
The results of the study lead to reflect on the sexual parasitisma condition that has evolved in a natural case of interspecies cloning. The result is an exclusively male line of descent, cloned through gametes of different species. The females who present this reproductive mode are said Xenoparewhich means that they give light to other species as part of their life cycle.
The results obtained lead scientists to further reflect on an already widely debated question: what is really meant by “species” And how much sense did you have to frame them, describe and define them rigidly as we did in the past? Maybe we should review the concept of identity, of individualstop wanting to label everything rigidly because in nature the boundaries are labile and changeable. There is still a lot to learn!
