The life span of ants depends on their species and caste, as well as on living conditions, habitat and season. Nature knows the ant life of both 5 days and a record 20 years.
Ants are insects that live in families. They not only share one home, but together they solve all the problems that stand in their way. A lonely ant is nonsense. This is a well-coordinated team of hard workers who are ready to make their contribution to the common cause.
Depending on the species, the number of individuals in the family ranges from several tens to several million. The ants that humans are accustomed to meeting on their way, working females, unable to fly and reproduce. Every year, flying females and males arrive at their nests for mating years, which mate in the air. Males die, and females, leaving behind numerous offspring, shed their wings and look for a permanent place of residence - an anthill.
Life span
Worker ants live from one to three years. And if the species is smaller, their life expectancy is lower than that of their larger counterparts. Also, ants from cold regions live longer than their tropical relatives - in the cold season they hibernate, maintaining their vital activity without a single movement, and then continue to exist again with renewed vigor.
Ant males live for several weeks, during which they bring only one benefit to the population: they participate in mating. Then they are destroyed by the anthill or fall into the beaks and paws of predators.
The longest-lived individual among the ant people is the queen of ants. Some species live up to 20 years, 15 times the life of the average worker ant.
Factors affecting longevity
Individuals of different species of ants can differ in life expectancy. Working species of the Pharaoh live for about 2 months, and the same working species of bulldogs - up to 5 years.
Ants acting as soldiers can live longer than their anthill cousins, which care for the queen and offspring.
Ants that do not leave anthills live much longer than soldiers and foragers who are forced to leave their habitat, often dying before reaching their age programmed by nature.
As well as adults, ant larvae living at cold temperatures develop longer, due to this, the total life of the ant increases.
Tropical ants are the longest living ants. Their life takes place in an anthill for a maximum of 22 years.
The shortest life for small ants that parasitize in other people's nests is only a few weeks.
In research laboratories, there is a high chance of extending the life of an ordinary working ant to 3-4 years.
