Black Garden Queen Ant

In News 

According to a recent study, insulin-suppressing protein may be responsible for the five-fold increase in longevity in queen ants compared to worker ants.

• Generally, species with a faster metabolism for reproduction are associated with a shorter life span. 
  • Ants are a notable exception to this generally accepted rule.

About Black Garden Queen Ant

• The queen ants, who are in charge of the colony’s reproduction, have a substantially longer lifespan than the worker ants despite having the same DNA.
  • For instance, a black garden queen ant can produce one million eggs and live for 30 years, unlike her sterile worker sisters, who only have one year’s lifespan.
• Queen ants and worker ants are the two female groups in ant colonies.
  •  Queen ants lay eggs and worker ants stay in the nest and complete tasks like tending to the young.
• Queen ants produce an anti-insulin protein that blocks a portion of the insulin chemical pathway in the body, responsible for ageing.

Other Studies 

• The researchers observed Harpegnathos saltator ant, a native of India, whose queens often live for five years, but workers live for around seven months.
• Harpegnathos ants provide a unique opportunity to study how ageing and reproduction can be disconnected.
• A strange thing happens when a Harpegnathos queen dies in a colony. Female worker ants fight with their antennae to become the new queen. While still residing in a worker ant’s petite body, the winner transforms into a ‘pseudoqueen’ and alters their position in the ant colony.
  • Pseudoqueens extend their lifespan from seven months to four years and develop queen-like traits, such as the production of eggs.

 Source: DTE