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Can ants steal young from other colonies?

As an ant colony relocates, another colony may steal some of its young. A laboratory study of the ant Diacamma indicum followed this behavior during moves. Explore why relocation creates opportunities for theft, and what evidence is needed to follow the fate of the captured brood.

3–5 min

Questions you could explore

  • How does studying theft between colonies of the same species change the explanation?
  • How could researchers tell whether captured young become workers in the raiding colony?

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