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A queen ant (formally known as a gyne) is an adult, reproducing female ant in an ant colony; she is usually the mother of all the other ants in that colony. Some female ants, such as the Cataglyphis , do not need to mate to produce offspring, reproducing through asexual parthenogenesis or cloning , and all of those offspring will be female. [ 1 ]
The colony was estimated to contain 306 million worker ants and one million queen ants living in 45,000 nests interconnected by underground passages over an area of 2.7 km 2 (670 acres). [14] In 2000, an enormous supercolony of Argentine ants was found in Southern Europe (report published in 2002). [ 15 ]
A formicarium, which is a housing for an ant colony. Note the talcum powder/rubbing alcohol lubricant mixture applied around the top perimeter of the enclosure, to prevent ants from escaping. Ant-keeping (or ant keeping) is a hobby involving the capture, care, and observation of ants and ant colonies. [1] It is a form of lay myrmecology. The ...
Having a queen is what makes a "queenright" hive, nest, or colony of eusocial insects. [1] [2] A colony with multiple queens is said to be a polygyne form, whereas one with only one is a monogyne form. The ancient Greek origin of gyne meant a woman who had given birth to at least one child. [3]
The queen is the reproductive member of the colony. Some ant species will only have one queen, while others will form polygynous colonies of multiple queens, such as Argentine ants Linepithema humile. [2] The workers are responsible for supporting the queen, maintenance, and foraging. Unlike queens and drones, workers are born wingless.
Not all ants follow the basic pattern described above. In army ants only males are alates, having wings. They fly out from their parent colony in search of other colonies where wingless virgin queens wait for them. A colony with an old queen and one or more mated young queens then divides, each successful queen taking a share of the workers.
An unusual ant colony has been documented in a recently published study. The population lives in an old bunker that was used to house nuclear weapons.
When the queen ant dies, there is no replacement and army ants cannot rear emergency queens. Most of the time, if the queen dies, the colony will likely die too. Queen loss can occur due to accidents during emigrations, predator attack, old age or illness. [13] However, there are possibilities to avoid colony death. When a colony loses its ...