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Article: Genes and nutrition influence caste in unusual species of harvester ant.
- Article from:
- Biotech Week
- Article date:
- September 17, 2008
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Researchers trying to determine whether nature or nurture determines an ant's status in the colony have found a surprising answer (see also University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
Both.
Nature (that is, the ant's genetic makeup) and nurture (what it eats, for example) play a role in determining the fate of the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius, a resilient creature found in many parts of the southeastern United States.
The research team included scientists from the University of Illinois, the University of Arizona, Linfield College and Arizona State University. The findings appear this month in American Naturalist.
In the ...