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.)
damn, them're some durable hymenoptera
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.
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.
i should maybe mention that one to my therapist.
myrmepropagandist
Я⊛ḶḶ model ☭