1052
Shirley, you can't be serious (thelemmy.club)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Where is the idea that worker ants are clones coming from? They share about 75% of their genes. That's a lot but far from more or less clones

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    Another comment mentioned it, but the DNA is 99.9-100% in common. Ants have haplodiploidy, so the females and males aren't just male/female versions of the same DNA.

    Also, if a queen dies, her own worker larva are raised into new queens. So the meme is just silly overall.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    Another comment mentioned it, but the DNA is 99.9-100% in common

    And I answered that comment as well. Haplodiploidy leads to the 75% figure rather than 50% most siblings have.

    Also, if a queen dies, her own worker larva are raised into new queens.

    They get special food (gele royal). Ants have their role from birth, there is no changing caste. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the queen dying. Pretty sure it's more about the season of the year.

    The meme says "the queen will notice me" which has nothing to do with who becomes the next queen.

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