Overview

• The peer-reviewed study, published September 3 in Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09425-w), combines population genomics with lab rearing to validate the two-genome colony system.
• Field surveys found first-generation hybrid workers on Sicily about 1,000 kilometers from the nearest known Messor structor populations.
• In isolated colonies, Messor ibericus queens produced M. structor-genome males clonally from stored sperm, then mated with them to generate hybrid workers.
• Reproductive roles diverge: queens arise via asexual cloning or mating with M. ibericus males, whereas workers are hybrids; all offspring retain the queen’s mitochondrial DNA.
• Cloned M. structor males introduced into native M. structor colonies were killed, likely due to colony-specific pheromones despite matching nuclear genomes.