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Colonies of army ants are large compared to the colonies of other Formicidae. Colonies can have over 15 million workers and can transport 3000 prey (items) per hour during the raid period. [14] [20] When army ants forage, the trails that are formed can be over 20 m (66 ft) wide and over 100 m (330 ft) long. [20]
Ants as a colony also work as a collective "super mind". Ants can compare areas and solve complex problems by using information gained by each member of the colony to find the best nesting site or to find food. [2] Some social-parasitic species of ants, known as the slave-making ant, raid and steal larvae from neighboring colonies. [19]
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.
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.
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.
The arrival of big-headed ants ‘spells almost certain doom’, one study found ... How an army of ants saved zebras from hungry lions in Kenya. Louise Boyle. January 26, 2024 at 12:20 PM.
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]
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.