Queen ants learn to be single mothers. A study reveals that the absence of workers pushes colony leaders to adopt roles of caring for the offspring.

The finding, published this Tuesday in the journal Functional Ecology, challenges the prevailing view that queen specialization is innate and irreversible. The discovery highlights the crucial role of the social environment in the development of behaviors, says the author of the study. The investigation has the potential to shed light on the societies of other insects, including bumblebees, bees, termites and ants.