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The army ants never reside in one location and do not build permanent nests. Therefore, they forage and hunt in different locations and emigrate periodically. [ 7 ] The Queen are wingless and contain expandable abdomens that allow them to produce millions of eggs per month, which allows variation to occur within the species.
Colonies of real army ants always have only one queen, while some other ant species can have several queens. The queen is dichthadiigyne (a blind ant with large gaster) but may sometimes possess vestigial eyes. [5] The queens of army ants are unique in that they do not have wings, have an enlarged gaster size and an extended cylindrical abdomen ...
Eciton army ants have a bi-phasic lifestyle in which they alternate between a nomadic phase and a statary phase. In the statary phase, which lasts about three weeks, the ants remain in the same location every night. They arrange their own living bodies into a nest, protecting the queen and her eggs in the middle.
Carebara species have permanent nests, while real army ants have only temporary nests (Dorylus) or form a bivouac with their own bodies (Eciton). Colonies of real army ants have only one queen, so when she dies, the workers may try to join another colony, or the rest of the colony also dies; Carebara colonies can have many (up to 16) queens.
Head view of a soldier with characteristically shaped mandibles. Unlike most ant species, Eciton burchellii is polymorphic, meaning that features amongst smaller groups within the colony vary in size: a colony contains workers ranging from 3 mm to 12 mm, with each specific "caste" suited to specialized tasks.
An ant mill is an observed phenomenon in which a group of army ants, separated from the main foraging party, lose the pheromone track and begin to follow one another, forming a continuously rotating circle. This circle is commonly known as a "death spiral" because the ants might eventually die of exhaustion. It has been reproduced in ...
In addition, the queen's general inability to easily move without assistance hinders colony emigration attempts. Consequently, they do not breed in cycles like many other army ants. Instead, there is a new larval generation being born at any given time, which carried by workers in the event of a necessary nest migration. [citation needed]
Army ant bivouac. A bivouac is an organic structure formed by migratory driver ant and army ant colonies, such as the species Eciton burchellii. A nest is constructed out of the living ant workers' own bodies to protect the queen and larvae, and is later deconstructed as the ants move on. [1] [2]