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ehaviors workers exhibit in the natural world since they are the
colony’s only contact with the outside world.
Photo Gallery - Those other guys (the males)
Queens
Despite their regal moniker, ant queens are mostly just egg-laying
machines. When queens first emerge, they usually have wings,
but after they find a lucky someone (or someones) and mate, they
rub off their wings, let their booties expand with developing eggs,
and go to town eating food and popping out eggs. Protected
deep within the nest, workers feed queens and keep life peachy
for them so they can produce healthy eggs for the colony.
Males
Male ants are easy to discount because they don’t seem to do
too much around the colony. Unlike their more industrious sisters,
male ants refrain from cleaning up around the house, taking care
of the babies, going out to get food, or keeping bad guys out. The
one thing male ants do in the colony is mate with queens.
To date, scientists have spent very little time studying male ants.
But these mysterious and weird-looking creatures invite a closer
look. Compared to their sisters, most male ants have tiny heads
and huge eyes. Often, they look like wasps. Nobody knows for
sure what the boys do when they leave the nest. What are they
eating? Where do they sleep? Why doesn’t anybody seem to
care?
A male leaves the nest and climbs high to embark on his mating flight. -
© Alex Wild
What’s in an ant colony?
Many different types of ants nest in pretty much any type of
shelter. While fire ants push up their great earthen mounds for all
to see, acrobat ants might have their mail delivered to a tiny piece
of bark on a tree limb, and winter ants scurry down
inconspicuous holes in the ground to their underworld mansions.
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