Malaysian exploding ant
Colobopsis saundersi (synonym Camponotus saundersi), also called the Malaysian exploding ant, is a species of ant found in Malaysia and Brunei, belonging to the genus Colobopsis. A worker can explode suicidally and aggressively as an ultimate act of defense, an ability it has in common with several other species in this genus and a few other insects. The ant has an enormously enlarged mandibular gland, many times the size of other ants, which produces adhesive secretions for defense. According to a 2018 study, this species forms a species complex and is probably related to C. explodens, which is part of the C. cylindrica group.
Autothysis in C. saundersi is common during territorial battles with other ant species or groups. Territorial weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) are known to stalk and attack C. saundersi for territory as well as for predation. Self-sacrifice of C. saundersi workers is likely to help the colony as a whole by ensuring that the colony retains its foraging territory. Therefore, such behavior would continue within a population given that the behavior was already genetically present within the majority of workers.
