Editing Ant (section)

===Cooperation and competition===
[[File:Ants eating cicada, jjron 22.11.2009.jpg|thumb|right|[[Meat ant|Meat-eater ants]] feeding on a [[cicada]]: social ants cooperate and collectively gather food]]
Not all ants have the same kind of societies. The Australian [[bulldog ant]]s are among the biggest and most [[basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] of ants. Like virtually all ants, they are [[Eusociality|eusocial]], but their social behaviour is poorly developed compared to other species. Each individual hunts alone, using her large eyes instead of chemical senses to find prey.<ref name=Crosland1988>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1440-6055.1988.tb01179.x | title = Aspects of the biology of the primitive ant genus Myrmecia F. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) | year = 1988 | journal = Australian Journal of Entomology | volume = 27 | pages = 305–309 | vauthors = Crosland MW, Crozier RH, Jefferson E | issue = 4 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Some species attack and take over neighbouring ant colonies. Extreme specialists among these [[slave-raiding ant]]s, such as the [[Polyergus|Amazon ant]]s, are incapable of feeding themselves and need captured workers to survive.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Diehl E, Junqueira LK, Berti-Filho E | title = Ant and termite mound coinhabitants in the wetlands of Santo Antonio da Patrulha, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | journal = Brazilian Journal of Biology | volume = 65 | issue = 3 | pages = 431–437 | date = August 2005 | pmid = 16341421 | doi = 10.1590/S1519-69842005000300008 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Captured workers of enslaved ''[[Temnothorax]]'' species have evolved a counter-strategy, destroying just the female pupae of the slave-making ''[[Temnothorax americanus]]'', but sparing the males (who do not take part in slave-raiding as adults).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Achenbach A, Foitzik S | title = First evidence for slave rebellion: enslaved ant workers systematically kill the brood of their social parasite protomognathus americanus | journal = Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution | volume = 63 | issue = 4 | pages = 1068–1075 | date = April 2009 | pmid = 19243573 | doi = 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00591.x | s2cid = 9546342 | doi-access = free }} See also ''[[New Scientist]]'', 9 April 2009</ref>

[[Image:Harpegnathos saltator fight.jpg|left|upright|thumb|A worker ''[[Harpegnathos saltator]]'' (a jumping ant) engaged in battle with a rival colony's queen (on top)]]
Ants identify kin and nestmates through their scent, which comes from [[hydrocarbon]]-laced secretions that coat their exoskeletons. If an ant is separated from its original colony, it will eventually lose the colony scent. Any ant that enters a colony without a matching scent will be attacked.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Henderson G, Andersen JF, Phillips JK, Jeanne RL | title = Internest aggression and identification of possible nestmate discrimination pheromones in polygynous antFormica montana | journal = Journal of Chemical Ecology | volume = 16 | issue = 7 | pages = 2217–2228 | date = July 1990 | pmid = 24264088 | doi = 10.1007/BF01026932 | bibcode = 1990JCEco..16.2217H | s2cid = 22878651 }}</ref>

Parasitic ant species enter the colonies of host ants and establish themselves as social parasites; species such as ''[[Strumigenys xenos]]'' are entirely parasitic and do not have workers, but instead, rely on the food gathered by their ''Strumigenys perplexa'' hosts.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ward PS|year=1996|title=A new workerless social parasite in the ant genus ''Pseudomyrmex'' (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a discussion of the origin of social parasitism in ants|journal=[[Systematic Entomology]]|volume= 21|pages=253–263|url=https://archive.org/details/ants_08424|doi=10.1046/j.1365-3113.1996.d01-12.x|issue=3|bibcode=1996SysEn..21..253W |s2cid=84198690}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Taylor RW|year=1968|title=The Australian workerless inquiline ant, ''Strumigenys xenos'' Brown (Hymenoptera-Formicidae) recorded from New Zealand|journal= New Zealand Entomologist|volume=4|issue=1|pages=47–49|url=https://archive.org/details/ants_10687|doi=10.1080/00779962.1968.9722888|bibcode=1968NZEnt...4...47T |s2cid=83791596 }}</ref> This form of parasitism is seen across many ant genera, but the parasitic ant is usually a species that is closely related to its host. A variety of methods are employed to enter the nest of the host ant. A parasitic queen may enter the host nest before the first brood has hatched, establishing herself prior to development of a colony scent. Other species use pheromones to confuse the host ants or to trick them into carrying the parasitic queen into the nest. Some simply fight their way into the nest.<ref name=TheAntParasites>Hölldobler & Wilson (1990), pp. 436–448</ref>

A [[sexual conflict|conflict between the sexes]] of a species is seen in some species of ants with these reproducers apparently competing to produce offspring that are as closely related to them as possible. The most extreme form involves the production of clonal offspring. An extreme of sexual conflict is seen in ''[[Wasmannia auropunctata]]'', where the queens produce diploid daughters by thelytokous parthenogenesis and males produce clones by a process whereby a diploid egg loses its maternal contribution to produce haploid males who are clones of the father.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Fournier D, Estoup A, Orivel J, Foucaud J, Jourdan H, Le Breton J, Keller L | title = Clonal reproduction by males and females in the little fire ant | journal = Nature | volume = 435 | issue = 7046 | pages = 1230–1234 | date = June 2005 | pmid = 15988525 | doi = 10.1038/nature03705 | bibcode = 2005Natur.435.1230F | s2cid = 1188960 | url = https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_4B6DEB46C264.P001/REF.pdf }}</ref>