By eating other creatures, a Chimera Ant queen can impart the characteristics of ingested creatures onto the next generation of Chimera Ants it gives birth to. For example, if the queen were to eat a butterfly, the offspring might be born with butterfly wings. Furthermore, if the queen devours multiple different species in a single sitting, then the offspring will have the genes and characteristics of those multiple species. If the queen devoured a butterfly, a crab, and a fish.