Queen ant

Oecophylla smaragdina queen

A queen ant (formally known as a gyne) is an adult, reproducing ant in an ant colony; generally she will be the mother of all the other ants in that colony. Some female ants, such as Catagly, do not need to mate to produce offspring, reproducing through asexual parthenogenesis or cloning, and all of those offspring will be female.[1] Others, like those in the genus Crematogaster, mate in a nuptial flight. Queen offspring develop from larvae specially fed in order to become sexually mature among most species. Depending on the species, there can be either a single mother queen, or potentially, hundreds of fertile queens in some species. Queen ants have one of the longest life-spans of any known insect – up to 30 years.[2] A queen of Lasius niger was held in captivity by German entomologist Hermann Appel for 28¾ years; also a Pogonomyrmex owyheei has a maximum estimated longevity of 30 years in the field.[2]

Life cycle

Development

Ants go through four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa (sometimes cocoon, called metamorphosis depending on the species) and adult.[3] The larvae have no legs but are capable of some minor movement, such as bending their head toward a food source when fed. During this stage, the level of care and nourishment the larvae receive will determine their eventual adult form. When resources are low, all larvae will develop into female worker ants;[4] however, if the parent of a sexually reproducing colony has a plentiful supply of food, some of the larvae will receive better nourishment than others, and develop into winged, sexually mature female ants destined to leave the colony. At this stage, the winged female ants are sometimes known as "princess ants".[5]

Early life

Winged ants swarming from the nest in preparation for the nuptial flight

When conditions are hot and humid after rain and there is minimal wind, masses of winged sexually reproducing ants or "flying ants" will leave their parent nest and take flight.[6] The mating flights occur simultaneously in all ant nests of the particular species. The female "queen" ants will fly a long distance, during which they will mate with at least one winged male from another nest. He transfers sperm to the seminal receptacle of the queen and then dies. Once mated, the "queen" will attempt to find a suitable area to start a colony and, once found will detach her wings.[7]

An established colony

Leafcutter ant (Atta colombica) queen with larvae and workers on substrate

The term "queen" is not particularly apt, as the queen ant has very little control over the colony as a whole. She has no known authority or decision-making control; instead her sole function is to reproduce. Therefore, the queen is best understood as the reproductive element of a colony rather than a leader. Once a colony is established, the worker ants meet the queen's needs such as giving her food and disposing of her waste. Because ant social structure is very complex and individual ants are relatively simple, an ant colony can be thought of as a single organism, and the individual ants as cells or limbs of the organism, as the individuals can rarely survive on their own. In a colony some ants may be unrelated to the queen(s), such as when a brood is captured in a raid and raised as the colony's own.

Reproduction

Once the colony has established itself, the queen ant will lay eggs continuously. Among species that reproduce sexually, the queen selectively uses the sperm cells retained from the nuptial flight, laying fertile or unfertile eggs depending upon the cyclic needs of the colony[8]; the sex of each individual ant is determined by whether or not the egg is fertilized. The fertile eggs become female worker ants and unfertilized eggs develop as males; if the fertilized eggs and pupae are well-nurtured, they potentially become queens.

This system of sex determination, haplodiploidy, is generally true for all Hymenoptera -- ants, bees, and wasps. However, a few ant species do not reproduce sexually and members of these clonal colonies are all female.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Keller, Laurent; Gordon, Elisabeth (26 February 2009). The Lives of Ants. Oxford University Press. p. 191. ISBN 9780191580079.
  2. 1 2 "Chapter 34: Longest Adult Life - The University of Florida Book of Insect Records - Department of Entomology & Nematology - UF/IFAS". entnemdept.ufl.edu.
  3. ↑ "The Life Cycle of the Ant". Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  4. ↑ "Enchanted Learning ant information page". Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  5. ↑ Bronson, Wilfrid S. (2008). The Wonder World of Ants. Sunstone Press. p. 17. ISBN 9780865346918.
  6. ↑ "How does an ant colony start?". Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  7. ↑ "Preparation for the mating flight". Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  8. ↑ "Can a queen lay eggs of certain types of ants at will?". Retrieved 2007-07-13.

[1]

  1. ↑ "Ant Keeping Guides and Video Tutorials - AntManUK". - AntManUK. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
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