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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 ]
Not all ants follow the basic pattern described above. In army ants only males are alates, having wings. They fly out from their parent colony in search of other colonies where wingless virgin queens wait for them. A colony with an old queen and one or more mated young queens then divides, each successful queen taking a share of the workers.
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 ...
Both the legs and wings of the ant are attached to the mesosoma ("thorax"). The legs terminate in a hooked claw which allows them to hook on and climb surfaces. [48] Only reproductive ants (queens and males) have wings. Queens shed their wings after the nuptial flight, leaving visible stubs, a distinguishing feature of queens.
In entomology, "alate" usually refers to the winged form of a social insect, especially ants [2]: 209 or termites, [3] though it can also be applied to aphids [4] and some thrips. [5] Alate females are referred to as gynes, and are typically those destined to become queens. [6] A "dealate" is an adult insect that shed or lost its wings ...
Solenopsis molesta is the best known species of Solenopsis thief ants. ... and S. molesta drones have wings, and mating takes place while flying. Queens sometimes fly ...
The first step involved in ant keeping is capturing a fertilized queen ant. [6] Ants engage in nuptial flights during spring, summer, and some species have also been recorded to have their nuptial flights during winter. After these flights a fertilized queen ant will land and remove her wings before locating a spot to found her new colony.
Castes in F. truncorum include the drones, the winged male ants with the sole purpose of reproducing, the queen, who sheds her wings after the nuptial flight, and the sterile workers which can vary in size depending on specialized tasks. [4] Eusocial behaviour is thought to have evolved as a result of kin selection within monogamous colonies.