myrmepropagandistMar 4

The average fire ant queen lives 6 to 8 years. This pretty typical for ant queens. Carpenter ant queens live from 10 to 15 years. The little black ants? Lasius niger and neoniger (these are small black ants found in the US, UK, Europe and more) have queens that live for two to three decades.

There may be a thirty year old insect in your yard and she is very busy!

(Six years ago this was the "ant fact" that made be obsessed with ants.)

Show threadЯ⊛ḶḶ model ☭Mar 4

@futurebird

damn, them're some durable hymenoptera

Show threadmyrmepropagandist

@saltywizard

She never molts or grows over that time. It's the same exoskeleton for all those years. We should learn more about chitin. It's flexible, tough, breathable, yet biodegradable.

I suspect to make it last you need that "waxy cuticle" that some bugs have. The wax is replaced.

Mar 4 at 1:14amWeb
Show threadЯ⊛ḶḶ model ☭Mar 4

@futurebird

i sometimes daydream about what life would be like for us as a species if we exuded a waxy protective layer. i imagine that we wouldn't need clothing and we could use the excess exudate to build our shelters. and we'd always be very moisturized.

Show threadЯ⊛ḶḶ model ☭Mar 4

@futurebird

i should maybe mention that one to my therapist.

Show threadPa🇵🇸Mar 4
@futurebird @saltywizard Gotta catch the queen first. She can survive just by eating her wings too.
Show threadDouglas Edwards Mar 4
@futurebird @saltywizard For me the real shock about #chitin — which is basically nature's own biodegradable plastic — was learning that it isn't limited to insects, or even to the animal kingdom. The cell walls of fungi are largely composed of chitin.
Show threadlemgandiMar 6

@futurebird @saltywizard

Interesting, but remember that ant colonies are very particular about humidity and temperature. Foragers go out into the Dry, but the queen and brood move up and down in the nest depending on the weather. And fire ant foragers spend much of their time in underground tunnels that radiate out from the nest.

That's why fire ant nests are tall & scary in summer and short & quieter in winter, at least here in the American SE.