Who is 4.5 years old, has 600 daughters and 500 eggs ready to go for spring?
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@futurebird Lovely girl!
Do queens ever run out of sperm?
I had never thought of it! In my head, queens stored eggs for a new days, to kickstart the colony, but obviously they need to store the sperm as long as they produce new eggs! 🤯
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@futurebird oh dang shes a big girl!!
how long is she expected to live in good conditions? or is that a matter of academic debate
At least 10 years. Maybe much longer. We don't really know how long they live.
She seems to be doing great. The colony is huge, though I'm trying to get them to grow it slowly since IDK where I'm going to put 10k ants.
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I had never thought of it! In my head, queens stored eggs for a new days, to kickstart the colony, but obviously they need to store the sperm as long as they produce new eggs! 🤯
Ant queens can already sort of do what people in Iain M. Banks culture do with their mental menus.
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Who is 4.5 years old, has 600 daughters and 500 eggs ready to go for spring?
This queen carpenter ant. I’ve known this bug longer than some people— and I like her better.
During her first two years of life she hung around the egg chambers, but then a couple of years back her daughters decided to move all of the eggs and larvae to another log, so her log is just for her, the ants to care for her (and who whisk the eggs away) and maybe just a few dozen most recently laid eggs. She also has an extensive collection of majors hanging around especially at the entrance.
It's the queen's apartments.
She has an army of nannies for the little ones.
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During her first two years of life she hung around the egg chambers, but then a couple of years back her daughters decided to move all of the eggs and larvae to another log, so her log is just for her, the ants to care for her (and who whisk the eggs away) and maybe just a few dozen most recently laid eggs. She also has an extensive collection of majors hanging around especially at the entrance.
It's the queen's apartments.
She has an army of nannies for the little ones.
I would be so much more impressed with human queens if they had this many kids and a set up like this one with big beefy daughters ready to defend them.
Might even get more interested in monarchy if they could do that.
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During her first two years of life she hung around the egg chambers, but then a couple of years back her daughters decided to move all of the eggs and larvae to another log, so her log is just for her, the ants to care for her (and who whisk the eggs away) and maybe just a few dozen most recently laid eggs. She also has an extensive collection of majors hanging around especially at the entrance.
It's the queen's apartments.
She has an army of nannies for the little ones.
@futurebird It’s wild to me that after years her workers would decide to make such a huge change.
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@futurebird It’s wild to me that after years her workers would decide to make such a huge change.
I think they like keeping all the larvae of the same age in one place for efficiency and her log was too small. And like most queens she didn't want to move.
But I've seen this in the wild too. The larvae are a target of predators, so keeping the queen separate is probably safer in the long run.
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During her first two years of life she hung around the egg chambers, but then a couple of years back her daughters decided to move all of the eggs and larvae to another log, so her log is just for her, the ants to care for her (and who whisk the eggs away) and maybe just a few dozen most recently laid eggs. She also has an extensive collection of majors hanging around especially at the entrance.
It's the queen's apartments.
She has an army of nannies for the little ones.
@futurebird the Queen’s Chambers or Logingham Palace? Her retinue, and the Royal Guard - sounds so familiar
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She's in her prime, they can live for over a decade and I hope to see if she can live that long.
@futurebird WOW. I had no idea they could live that long. How old is she?
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I think they like keeping all the larvae of the same age in one place for efficiency and her log was too small. And like most queens she didn't want to move.
But I've seen this in the wild too. The larvae are a target of predators, so keeping the queen separate is probably safer in the long run.
As it turns out I have video of when they first moved into the log!
Dottie passed away nearly two years ago. She was one of the first wave of workers and saw a lot of change. I might mark another ant or two this spring as it's interesting to see what they get up to... they are NOT all the same. Very different personalities.
Post by @futurebird · 1 video
A few weeks ago I marked one of my pet ants with white paint so I could keep up with her. Turns out she (Dottie) is something of a colony leader! Exploring a new nest? Hunting a dangerous housefly? D…
Tumblr (www.tumblr.com)
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@futurebird WOW. I had no idea they could live that long. How old is she?
Nearly 5 years old!
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Nearly 5 years old!
@futurebird very cool
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@futurebird the Queen’s Chambers or Logingham Palace? Her retinue, and the Royal Guard - sounds so familiar
"Logingham Palace" is perfect.
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