Entomology

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What happens to little black ants without a queen? (programming.dev)

submitted 11 months ago by CandleTiger@programming.dev to c/entomology@mander.xyz

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I have some little black ants in my motorhome. I’m pretty sure I picked them up at my last stop in upstate New York but I’ve since driven far away from there. Wikipedia says little black ants nest in the soil so presumably I didn’t take their queen with me.

What’s going to happen to this group that hitched a ride? Are they likely to elect a new queen and go looking for a good nesting spot, or curl up and die, or what?

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[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago

They'll probably just die. They can't "elect" a new queen. I think there's a few species where a normal worker can change into one, but normally they have to be specifically hatched that way. Or I'm the case of honey bees fed special food as a larva.

[–] irish_link@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

It’s also possible once you get them back outside they can find another group of the same species and join them. This would provide them with a new queen to serve.