slavery

In zoology, "slave ant" refers to an ant that has been enslaved by a slave-making ant species. This is a form of social parasitism, where one ant species depends on the labor of another within a mixed-species colony. Slave-making ants employ various methods to capture and utilize ants from other species, often raiding nests to steal pupae, which are then raised to serve as slaves. These enslaved ants may be imprinted with the scent of their captors and continue to forage and return to the slave-making ant's nest as adults. This behavior highlights the complex social dynamics and parasitic relationships found within ant colonies.123