So here is an update on #tuliptheant the Eastern black carpenter ant median worker with pink dots on her gaster. Tulip has lost most of her paint. If it all flakes off I may lose track of her. She has been very active in the lower chamber bark project, and still hangs out on her branch.

She is over two years old and has seen her colony grow by 100s of ants. #namedAnts #ants

@futurebird Ants can live for years? This is fascinating! I had mistakenly assumed they were a much shorter lived creature.

@ambientspace

Queen ants can live for decades. The workers tend to live for about two years... though part of why I mark them is to try to see how long they really live.