The Featured Creature : Showcasing Unique and Unusual Wildlife. Zoology. Tarantulas. Supersoldier ants created in the lab by reactivating ancestral genes. (PhysOrg.com) -- There are over 1100 species of Pheidole genus ants, and most individual ants belong to either the worker or soldier caste.
In only eight of the Pheidole species, some individuals can belong to a "supersoldier" subcaste instead, and these ants fight off predatory army ant species and bar their way by blocking off the entrances to the nest using their over-sized heads. Now, scientists have managed to create supersoldiers in other species by reactivating ancestral genes.