Why Do Queen Ants have Wings?
One insect that is probably seen almost anywhere are ants. There are ants anywhere because they work hard for their queen. The Queen ant reproduces for the colony to grow and becomes the mother of all the ants in the colony. One thing she has, that the other ants don’t have is a pair of wings. Other than being the queen, you may be wondering why she has wings.
Queen ants basically look the same as the other ants, except that they are noticeably bigger. Also, they have wings. The queen ants have wings because they use it for the nuptial flight. It is therefore essential for her reproduction. That is her main purpose and she does not have to work.
May is the mating season for the ants and it has to take place around May 20, on a humid evening. Their mating places are the leaves. How is the process going about? Male ants are lighter than female ants so basically, they can fly into the air at a much higher distance than the female. The female ant is visibly bigger than that of a male, larger and heavier, that is. The tendency is to jump from one place to another.
Male ants have their own teasing ‘perfume,. They release an odor, a very pleasant one, which captivates any female who is within range. Thus wings play an important role in their reproduction.
After the mating, the male ant dies while the Queen lives to give life for more ants. The queen does not retain her wings. It is either detached by the queen herself or the worker ants will chew them off her body.
Working ants do not have wings because they do not mate. They do all the work for the queen who does the reproduction of their kind.
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