From egg to ant
Table of Contents
How are ants actually born?
Much like butterflies, the ants go through a complex metamorphosis before they are considered full-grown and ready. The time it takes from egg to ant varies, but all the different species share the same pattern.
Table of Contents
There are three phases that every ant goes through before it can be considered complete and ready to start it’s service to the colony. The queen is the mother of all colony members, and for the most part lays all of the eggs. The time from egg to ant is not the same in every species, but a well-known example is the black garden ant (Lasius niger) which takes approximately eight weeks to finish the process.
The development is divided into three stages. The first stage is the egg, followed by the larvae which is in turn followed by the pupae. When these are through the ant is ready for it’s life to begin.
1. The egg
The eggs are tiny. They have an oval form with a sticky surface. The stickiness serves as glue when several eggs are put together, making it easier fro the workers to carry many eggs at a time. This is very practical and crucial in times of nest invasion when brood needs to be transported to safety as quickly as possible.
The queen is also able to lay trophic eggs. These eggs are made for eating and are not fertilised. It might seem an odd thing, but they are actually quite useful. For example, when the queen is founding her colony, she is unable to go out foraging. She then converts her wing muscles into eggs, which she can eat and get nutrients from. They are also great for feeding the larvae when no other food is around. In some cases, workers have been known to lay trophic eggs and feed them to the queen. (1)
2. The larvae
When the egg is ready, it will slowly transform into a larva. They are, just like the egg, white but differ from it in length. The larvae is transparent, long and shaped like bananas. They are equipped with small hairs serving the same functions as the glue of the eggs. Thanks to the hairs they can be attached to each other, walls or floors. Their mobility is certainly restricted, but they can move their head to turn their mouth towards food. (2)
Larvae are for the most part being held near the eggs. They form piles where the larvae might accidentally eat some of the fertilised eggs. The larval stage consists of four stages, during which the workers feed them with liquids. They need a lot of protein to be able to grow into the body of an adult ant. Some ant species feed their larvae with solid food which they have chopped into small parts to make it easier to consume. The larvae is also known to emit liquids – some sort of feces – that the workers either consume or throw away. One of these is floury and seem to be very attractive to the workers, which gathers around to taste it. If not floury, the liquid is transparent and seem not to interest the ants, which throws it away outside of the colony. (3)
3. The pupae
The third and last stage of an ant’s development is the pupae. During the end of the larval stage (pre-pupae) the larvae becomes inactive and gets rid of the poisons they’ve collected during that stage. This forms a black dot, visible to the human eye. Some ant species have larvae that spins cocoons, while others don’t. The common north european woodland ant Formica rufa have is an example of cocoon-spinning species. The pupae starts out white, as the larvae, but darkens over time. (4)
In other species, cocoons are not used during pupae. They are out in the open and their development can easily be observed. All pupae are positioned in a foetal position with lowered heads and bodies shaped much like a banana. The cocoon-spinning ants look the same although they are covered by the shell of the cocoon.
Some of the more exotic species actually find another use for the larvaes cocoon-spinning abilities. The fabric of the cocoon is of a fine silk thread which the larvae can produce at will (although they probably don’t think very much about their actions). So instead of the larvae using the silk for cocooning, they are used by workers of the colony to glue together parts of the nest. The weaver ants for example, located at the top of trees, tie together large groups of leaves to create a nest high above the ground. The ants carry the larvae with their mandibles and use them as glueing devices.
From egg to ant
When the pupae is fully grown and has begun to darken, it will wake up. For the first days of it’s life it will be lightly coloured and transparent in comparison to the other members of the ant colony. But after a few days it will darken and gain the same markings as it’s sisters. Most ant species let the new ants (also called nanitics) live their first time in safety, tending to the eggs, queen and other inside-duties of the colony. Then eventually they will look towards more dangerous tasks such as foraging or defending the nest. The closer one ant is to death (by age), the more economically motivated the colony is to risk it’s life.
References
1. Bert Hölldobler & Edward O. Wilson (1990) “The Ants” p. 168
2. Per Douwes, Johan Abenius, Björn Cederberg, Urban Wahlstedt (2012) Nationalnyckeln “Steklar: Myror-getingar. Hymenoptera: Formicidae-Vespidae” p. 34 (Swedish)
3. Bert Hölldobler & Edward O. Wilson (1990) “The Ants” p. 167
4. Per Douwes, Johan Abenius, Björn Cederberg, Urban Wahlstedt (2012) Nationalnyckeln “Steklar: Myror-getingar. Hymenoptera: Formicidae-Vespidae” p. 34 (Swedish)
Further reading
Images of eggs, larvae and pupae: Alex Wild Photography (Brood)