Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Argentine ant (Linepithema humile, formerly Iridomyrmex humilis) is an ant native to northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil. [1]
A queen ant (formally known as a gyne) is an adult, reproducing female ant in an ant colony; she is usually the mother of all the other ants in that colony. Some female ants, such as the Cataglyphis , do not need to mate to produce offspring, reproducing through asexual parthenogenesis or cloning , and all of those offspring will be female. [ 1 ]
The latter is better known as the Argentine ant, an invasive species with notable presence in Mediterranean climates. Linepithema species are found from sea level and up to 4,000 meters above sea level in the Andes. [3]
Fertilised meat-eater ant queen beginning to dig a new colony. Once a queen has excavated a chamber, she will lay around 20 eggs that develop into larvae in less than a month. [53] These eggs take 44 to 61 days to fully develop and emerge as adults. [57] [59] Mature nests range in size, from a few hundred to over 300,000 workers.
For an Argentine ant colony to successfully wipe out a monogyne colony of 160,000 workers, the colony would need 396,800 workers. A colony that has reduced in size due to successful bait treatment are prone to predation by Argentine ants. The ants may play a vital role in removing weakened fire ant colonies, and they may also be important in ...
The colony was estimated to contain 306 million worker ants and one million queen ants living in 45,000 nests interconnected by underground passages over an area of 2.7 km 2 (670 acres). [14] In 2000, an enormous supercolony of Argentine ants was found in Southern Europe (report published in 2002). [15]
The queen is the reproductive member of the colony. Some ant species will only have one queen, while others will form polygynous colonies of multiple queens, such as Argentine ants Linepithema humile. [2] The workers are responsible for supporting the queen, maintenance, and foraging. Unlike queens and drones, workers are born wingless.
The pavement ant is dark brown to blackish, and 2.5–4 millimeters (0.10–0.16 in) long. A colony is composed of workers, alates, and a queen. Workers do have a small stinger, which can cause mild discomfort in humans but is essentially harmless. Alates, or new queen ants and drones, have wings, and are at least twice as large as the workers ...