The Dracula ant that MUST drink the blood of its young to survive - despite causing them pain and trauma

The Dracula ant Adetomyrma venatrix is only 2mm long, so a human jugular and the blood it contains should be pretty safe.

But if you're one of the Dracula ant's own offspring, it's a different story.

Where do Dracula ants live?

This species lives in the dry forests of Madagascar where it preys mainly on other insects and arthropods. Like most other ants, it then feeds the mashed-up animal matter to its developing larvae back at the nest.

Why do they feed on their young's blood?

But, unusually, the adults can only survive on the haemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood) of their own grubs. And they scratch, scrape and chew at their offsprings' pallid flesh until this elixir bleeds out.

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This behaviour is known as non-destructive cannibalism and it can be a bit of a struggle. Even though the larvae survive to grow into (scarred) adults, they don't enjoy the experience, and escape attempts have been documented.

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The question is: why do dracula ants put their offspring through this trauma? One theory is that the larvae effectively act as a communal stomach, storing the colony's resources. They are already flexible, expandable eating machines, and so while they are busy processing the colony's food, the adults are freed up to develop jaws specialised for other tasks.

And when the adults need to feed, a meal is ready and waiting back at the nest - all that is required is a bit of bullying.

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Main image: April Nobile / © AntWeb.org