Do Ant queens die of old age? Been going on a documentary binge

>>2345826
yes but there are only very few believable numbers to go by.
Oecophylla smaragdina (Indonesian and Malaysian variant) for example almost always die after 7 years. That number was tested and researched and can be believed.
Whilst some very very unreliable sources are quoted as saying that for example Lasius niger can live up to 30 years but I wouldn't count on that being true.
Monomorium pharaonis on the other hand are known to live only a couple of months and go with the spamming queens strategy.

About 7-15 years seem to be a good estimate for a average queens live tho

>>2345840
Thanks man. Guess ant queens really do have it better than their termite counterparts.

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How is it possible that an ant queen has enough sperm for the rest of her life after mating a single time? Doesn't the sperm die off/run out at some point?

>>2345846
they have a sperma tank like bees and wasps.
also they mate with several partners, type pheidologeton mating into youtube. ants mating is literally a ball of gangbang and rape. Some however only have one partner.

It is strange from an evolutionary perspective because wirkers keep working together even tho the young queens and males they raise will in cases of many males only be about 12.5% or less generically their siblings.

>>2345845
Well I mean termites are always portrayed way wrong. Maybe some Macrotermes or other highly evolved species live like that but all the more primitive species have a shitton of queens and males in one colony since the normal worker can often transform into a secondary queen later. So if he/she survives the long months of working it can get a royal eventually

>>2346019
In bees, ants, and wasps that have colonies with a single queen, females are 3/4 genetically similar to their sisters.

Males have only one set of chromosomes instead of paired chromosomes.

Makes more sense from an evolutionary genetic perspective for workers to help their siblings then it does for them to reproduce.

>>2345826
>Do Ant queens die of old age?

Usually.

Sometimes they get murdered by new queen ants that take over the colony, or by worker ants should she prove infertile.

>>2345840
Jeje lasius Niger

>>2345846
ahh, yes. >>2346019 is correct. If you've ever witnessed a nuptial flight, you won't forget it. This is when new queens leave the old colony to establish new ones. Usually on a warm early summer evening with just the right amount of humidity. Young queens take flight and mate with as many winged males as possible before finding a new spot to burrow, storing the sperm for the rest of her life. This is usually the only time you see male ants. Many thousands of them fly around trying to fuck her, then they all die. They seem to be attracted to water when their bodies pile up to die post-coitus. Several years I had left the window open on such nights. Sucks sweeping up about a pound of dead ant bodies.

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>>2346209

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>>2346209

What the 'Eyes Wide Shut' did I just read?

In unrelated news: Google, this insanity has to end. wtf. This is as bad as when everything had bread as 'a sandwich' or when every light-pole and traffic light were 'street signs'.

>pic

>>2346261
Talk about insanity, I've been getting 4- and 5-page captchas recently and whack-a-moles that kept popping up valid target pictures in the same place over and over and over until I got pissed off and canceled the post.