Ants benefit ecosystems by dispersing seeds , pollinating plants and improving the quality of soil. Ants might also benefit our health, as a potential source of new medicines such as antibiotics. So when you next see an ant, before you think to kill her, consider how fascinating she really is. Explore further. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. More from Biology and Medical.
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By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Share Twit Share Email. June 21, Male ants have a mother but no father. Author provided. Let them eat cake. Credit: Shutterstock. Provided by The Conversation. The queen only mates once in its lifetime. The queen stores the male sperms in a pouch and systematically releases the sperms to fertilize the eggs she lays.
It is also the role of the queen to produce winged males and females. The winged males and female scurries off from their colonies in search of new breeding areas where they start their colonies. The winged female mates with the winged male. After mating, the winged female loses its wings, and the male dies. Once a queen has mated, it takes between a few hours to a week for it to start laying eggs. The queen determines the sex of the ants.
The queen produces a chemical that prohibits wings growth and the development of larvae. Most of the ants in a colony are female. Therefore, inhibiting the growth of wings and ovary developments, ensuring that there is no in-house fertilization and a sufficient number of worker ants. However, if the colony has a sufficient number of workers, it produces winged females and males. These winged females and males leave the colony to start their own.
The life span of ants depending on the species. For example, Myrmica Rubra queen species are believed to have fewer than three years of life expectancy. However, some queen species have a life expectancy of between 14 and 29 years. Leafcutter queen ant has an estimated life expectancy of 14 years, while Lasius niger queen ants can live for up to 28 years.
Mating flights can occur at any time of the year, but they are most common in spring and fall. Males die soon after mating, while the fertilized queen alights to find a suitable nesting site, sheds her wings, and begins digging a chamber in which to start a new colony. Sometimes, several queens can be found within a single initial nesting site.
A newly-mated queen lays a cluster of about a dozen eggs. When they hatch 7 to 10 days later, the larvae are fed by the queen. Fertilized eggs produce females either wingless workers seldom capable of reproduction, or reproductive virgin queens.
Unfertilized eggs develop into winged males who do no work, and exist solely to fertilize a virgin queen. The queen produces myriads of workers by secreting a chemical that retards wing growth and ovary development in the female larvae. Virgin queens are produced only when there are sufficient workers to allow for the expansion of the colony. Queens live long lives in comparison with their workers and are prolific breeders.
A queen of Lasius niger , a common ant found in Europe , lived for 29 years in captivity, while the queen of the urban Pharaoh's ant, Monomorium pharaonis , lives for only three months. The queen of the leafcutter ant from South America produces million workers during her year life span.
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