In this post I’m going to explain as to how long do ants live in the same place with or without queens. There are around 8,000 species of ants and they fancy living in organized communities. Ants are very social and their widespread existence throughout the world shows the high level of their adaptability. The size of ants ranges from 1 mm to 4 cm (0.03 to 1.57 in). They are known to form extraordinary communities and sometimes there are around million ants in a single community; unsurprisingly, each of the individual within a community knows her special task and they live in harmony. The colony is classified into three types of ants: males, workers, and queens. The lifespan of an ant primarily relies on how successful it is at reproducing.
How Long Do Ants Live
Depending entirely on species, ants lifespan ranging from few months to the several years. Queens are the largest members of the ant’s community and their task is to lay eggs. Many colonies have only one queen but there are some which have thousands of queens. Honey bees have typically one queen while the red ants have 5,000 queens. The lifespan of queens is greater than any other member in a community. These queens can live up to 20 – 25 years which is one of the longest lifespans in insects.
The male ants have wings and their lifespan is shorter. They are hatched in spring, while in summer they are able to mate; male ants die soon after mating.
Nearly all laboring ants or workers are females and they live up to 5 – 6 years. Their job is to defend, repair, and build the nest. Besides, the worker ants guard the queen and look after the brood consisting of larvae, pupae, and eggs. They will gather all the necessary food and feed all other ants.
(How Long Do Ants Live)
Unlike any other ant species, red ants have poison gland. They spray poison known as formic acid to the prey for protecting nests. Worker ants keep their nest clean all the time from mildew infecting their ant hill.
Ants have a remarkable sense of direction; they use position of the sun as well as features of the landscape to navigate their way back to home. The worker ants also use odorous secretions to spot the path which helps other members to reach back home.
Ants also greet other invertebrates such as spiders and millipedes to their nest which is highly unlikely in other insects.
(How Long Do Ants Live)
Similarly, carpenter ants begin their life with a nuptial flight and they usually emerge in the early summer or late spring. The males mate with the winged females and they die soon after mating while females shed their wings.
The female is typically responsible for locating the nest-site and she selects a crack in a wooden structure for her nest. After going inside, she closes the nest and traps her inside that chamber. She will lay eggs in about 15 days. The female will not come out of nest until the first carpenter ant eggs become adult workers.
It takes around six years to establish a large colony. The lifecycle of a carpenter ant lasts for 2 months from egg to adult. In the cold weather, the time stretches out for the development of carpenter ants.
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