Ants (Formicidae) are some of the most interesting insects. We often see them forming long lines as they carry their food to the nest. Their social organization, their cooperation and their motivation when working is something that attracts everyone's attention. However, many people do not know what happens inside the anthill, how ants are born or where those with wings come from.
In this article on our site, we answer all your questions about ant reproductionTo do this, we will explain how they are organized and how they reproduce, placing special emphasis on their birth. We will also talk about the differences between each type of ant: females, males, queens, winged, etc. Do not miss it!
Organization of the ants
In order to understand how ants are born, it is very important to know their organization. There are many species of ants in the world, but they all have a very similar social organization. They build tunnels and chambers under the ground, in wood or even in living plants, giving rise to large "cities" in which thousands of ants live. In this way, they form quite complex societies
In an anthill different types of ants coexist, known as “castes”. Each caste has a very specific function Most of them are dedicated to daily work that allows them to maintain the colony, such as gathering, protecting the anthill or caring for individuals they can't get out. These are mostly wingless females and are known as “workers”.
Only a Few ants engage in reproduction: the queens and the drones. They are the only ones that have wings, at least when they are born. As we will now see, they are not alone in the reproductive task, since the workers are fundamental for the care of the young. Now yes, we are ready to know how ants are born.
How are ants born? Females and males
Ant reproduction revolves around the queen, the only female in the anthill dedicated exclusively to reproduction. Now, how are female ants born? Let's see it.
Birth of female ants
The queen copulates with the drones, the male ants. After this encounter, the queen lays the eggsin strategic places in the anthill, but she does not perform any kind of parental care. The workers are in charge of protecting and cleaning the eggs, waiting for the birth of the new ants.
When the eggs hatch, they don't come out with the hardworking insects we know, but worm-shaped larvae This is how ants are born: headless, unable to see, walk or feed themselves. For this reason, the workers take care of them and feed them until they become adults.
When ready to mature, each larva becomes coated with a hard substance, entering a stage known as a “pupa”. It is a kind of cocoon, similar to that of butterflies, in which metamorphosis takes place The body of the larva is segmented into three parts: head, chest and abdomen. The legs, antennae, jaws, etc. are formed, acquiring the appearance of the adult that we all know.
However, it's not that simple. From these eggs fertilized by males, only the females are born, which can be workers or queens. So how are male ants born? Keep reading!
Birth of male ants
Male or drone ants are winged ants that hatch from unfertilized eggs, that is, the queen lays them without having copulated with a male. Therefore, they are haploid eggs and have half the genetic material of females. In the eggs that give rise to females, fertilization does take place. In this case, half of the genetic material of the male unites with half of the genetic material of the queen, giving rise to diploid (female) eggs.
This sex determination system is known as haplodiploidy and is very common in insects. It also occurs, for example, in the reproduction of bees and wasps.
Something that needs to be noted is that, on very special occasions, some workers can lay male eggs Worker ants have the ability to lay eggs, but they don't because the queen inhibits her ovaries with pheromones. However, when the colony grows too large, the pheromones do not circulate throughout the nest. Therefore, at a certain distance from the queen, some workers can lay unfertilized eggs, which will give rise to males.
If you want to see how an ant is born, don't miss the video below.
How is a queen ant born?
We have already seen how females and males are born, but how are queen ants born? What differentiates workers from queens? This is the most interesting event in ant reproduction, since the difference is not genetic, but environmental.
Ants are not born as workers or queens, since the eggs and larvae are exactly the same. It is the feeding of the young that determines their development. Larvae that become queens are fed differently, usually with a higher quality diet. This, as we mentioned in the article on What do ants eat, depends on each species.
The choice of the “queen” larvae is not random, but is their mother, the current queen,who decides it To do this, it leaves a series of signs in the place where the chosen eggs are deposited, indicating to the workers that these larvae must have a special diet.
As a result, the chosen larvae grow larger and develop a different shape during their metamorphosis. They are winged ants that leave the colony when the most favorable environmental conditions arrive. Outside, they mate with drones, also winged, and make a nuptial flight in which copulation takes place.
Finally, each of the new winged queens looks for a place to build her own anthillOnce there, she loses the wings and lays the eggs that will give rise to its first larvae. It feeds them by regurgitation and they are all workers. Only when the colony is large enough do they "make" new queens again, starting a new cycle.
How are ants born? Explanation for children
Ants form huge colonies underground, where there are as many ants as there are people in a city. In them, they hide, store their food and reproduce Normally we cannot see it, but we only observe the ants when they are gathering food outside. These industrious insects are the workers, who spend the day working to keep their city running.
All workers are sisters and females, although they cannot reproduce. So how are ants born? The answer lies inside the nest, where a very special ant lives: the queen. She too is female, but larger and stockier than the workers, though rather clumsier. It cannot go outside, but it has a very important function: to lay eggs
When time passes, the eggs open, like those of chickens. But ants do not come out of them, at least not as we know them, but rather larvae. They are a kind of worms that hardly move They spend all day eating a porridge that the workers prepare for them. So these worms grow until they get very fat. They then form a cocoon similar to that of butterflies, where a transformation known as metamorphosis occurs.
During metamorphosis, the larvae become adults All of these new ants are male and are known as drones. But how are female ants born? In order to have daughters, the queen must mate with the drones. Thus, very special eggs are formed, from which a lot of female larvae are born. Almost all of these larvae are workers, except for some of them, which are given a much richer meal. These gluttonous larvae grow larger than the others and become queens.
