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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 ]
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.
[2] [46] Due to the queen's brachypterous wings, it is likely that the winged adults mate near their parent nest and release sex pheromones, or instead climb on vegetation far away from their nests and attract fully winged males. [46] [49] [50] Nothomyrmecia is a polyandrous ant, in which queens mate with
The pavement ant is dark brown to blackish, and 2.5–4 millimeters (0.10–0.16 in) long. A colony is composed of workers, alates, and a queen. Workers do have a small stinger, which can cause mild discomfort in humans but is essentially harmless. Alates, or new queen ants and drones, have wings, and are at least twice as large as the workers ...
Ant colonies have a complex social structure. Ants’ jobs are determined and can be changed by age. As ants grow older their jobs move them farther from the queen, or center of the colony. Younger ants work within the nest protecting the queen and young. Sometimes, a queen is not present and is replaced by egg-laying workers.
Workers in army ant species have a unique role in selecting both the queen and the male mate. When the queens emerge, the workers in the colony will form two 'systems' or arms in opposite directions. These queens that are hatched will move down either of the arms and only two queens will succeed, one for each branch.
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Usually, these queens mate with one or several males before flying to the ground, ripping off their wings, then setting out to find a good place to start a colony. This is the most common place and time queen ants die, usually to other ants that take them as prey.