Diacamma

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Diacamma is a genus of queenless ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. They live from India to Australia and include about 24 species. There is no queen caste in Diacamma.

All workers hatch from cocoons with small wing-like appendages called gemmae. In each colony, only one worker keeps her gemmae and becomes the gamergate, the mated, egg-laying worker. The gamergate bites off the gemmae of new workers, so those workers cannot mate. This is different from other queenless ants, where workers form a dominance hierarchy to share reproduction.

When gemmae are removed, the change is permanent: workers without gemmae never mate. Removing gemmae can also damage nerve connections between the gemmae’s sensors and the brain, which may explain why the behavioral changes are irreversible.