Have you ever come across these small and tiny insects? These are very social insects who corporate and communicate through using chemicals or pheromones that can alert others in case there is danger or even direct them to a promising source of food.
They form colonies that vary in size, as in from some dozen rapacious individuals living in little natural cavities towards well-prepared colonies which might inhabit great terrain and consists of very many people.
All kinds of insects undergo similar progression before they reach the maturity stage which is adulthood, and the entire process is known as insect life cycle. The whole ant life cycle is a form of transformation which is just a similar process to the one that a caterpillar uses to transform into a butterfly.
The whole life cycle process may take somewhere like some weeks to maybe up to one year to become complete. However, it all depends on three main things;
In full grown colonies, the blood is stirred around the nest purposely for them to be at most favorable rising temperatures. Ants life cycle just like many other insects comprise of four stages; egg, larva, pupa and then adult. The fertilized egg produces female ants which are workers, queens, and soldiers whereas unfertilized eggs produce male ants only.
Ant eggs are oval in shape and tiny as well. They are on the order of 1 mm long, although the egg of a queen is extra larger.
The worm like larvae neither has legs nor eyes. They feed on food restate by adults. Besides that, the larvae molt or shed their skin occasionally as they enlarge in size.
After attaining a particular size, the larva then spins a silk-like cocoon within it or against a hard object such as the wall of the chamber and pupates. At this point, the body transforms or changes into an adult form.
At this final stage, the pupa now comes out as an adult. The whole life cycle lasts from 6-10 weeks. Some workers can survive up to seven years whereas some queens can exist up to a period of more 15 years.
According to an analysis conducted by scientists who came together from Florida state and Harvard University in the year 2006, from 9 out of a total f 20 famous subfamilies, the results of their research concluded that ants initially arose in the mid cretaceous period. This is around 110 to 130 decades ago, making insects as old as the dinosaurs.
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