Why Do Ants Need a Queen Ant?
WouterUnlike many insects, ants do not have an annual swarm. Instead, ants spread throughout the year by budding. This is how ants are able to build their colonies.
A queen ant’s primary function is to produce the next generation of reproductives. In addition to providing food for the colony, the queen also has the job of keeping the colony clean. Ants will carry things for the queen and dispose of waste.
The queen ant’s other major role is to produce eggs. Queens are able to lay hundreds or even thousands of eggs in a day. The eggs are either male drones or female worker ants. A queen can fertilize some of the eggs, but may choose not to fertilize others.
A queen’s thorax is the largest part of its body. It is also larger than the thorax of a typical worker ant.
The thorax makes it easy to see the difference between a queen ant and a worker ant. Queens need a large body to make their wings work. Some queens will shed their wings when they are no longer needed. Some species chew them off with their legs.
A queen ant can live for decades. In some ant species, workers prefer to serve a single queen instead of multiple queens.
The queen ant’s role is vital to the survival of the colony. Without a queen ant, the colony will slowly die off. In fact, many ant colonies will die out in a matter of months or even weeks.
