How Many Ants Can a Queen Produce?
WouterAlmost all ant species have queens. They are responsible for reproduction, establishing colony members, and ensuring that the colony survives. They also contribute to ecosystems by dispersing seeds and pollinating plants.
The number of queens in ant colonies varies throughout the life cycle. They can lay hundreds to thousands of eggs a day. They use sperm stored from their nuptial flights to fertilize the eggs. Queens also use energy from fat stores and redundant flight muscles for nourishment.
Some species have only one egg-laying queen. However, others have thousands or millions of queens. These are known as super colonies. These colonies may go as deep as 25 feet underground.
Polygyny, or the presence of multiple queens, has emerged repeatedly over the last hundred million years in ants. During this time, different species have tried various ways of utilizing polygyny devices. In some species, a single queen is surrounded by a group of workers and other larvae. In others, the queen is surrounded by a group of soldier ants.
In most ant species, the number of queens in a colony varies, and the species has its own life cycle. In some species, queens live for up to 15 years, while others live for only a week. They may live in different regions of a colony and be larger than the workers.
Polygyny is often the result of interdemic selection. It is caused by the interactions among ants. These interactions determine how many reproductive females are in a colony.
