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How does an ant colony start?
When the first workers emerge they are very small and timid, compared to the later generations of ant that will follow. They immediately begin to expand the nest, tend to the queen and brood, and eventually remove the seal from the chamber entrance created by the queen, and forage above ground for food. This is a critical time for the new colony as food will need to be gathered quickly in order to feed the near starved queen, who would have lost about 50% of her body weight, and to provide her with the nourishment needed to create more eggs. From this point on the queen will cease all other functions, but will instead become an egg laying machine.
As future generations of ants are produced, they will be bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than their older sisters. After a year or so the colony will enter an exponential stage in growth when the population will rise dramatically. Once the colony is well established, which can take a couple of years or more, the queen will start to lay eggs that will turn into winged males, and later on, when the colony resources are plentiful, large winged queens will appear, and the whole cycle is started again.
As future generations of ants are produced, they will be bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than their older sisters. After a year or so the colony will enter an exponential stage in growth when the population will rise dramatically. Once the colony is well established, which can take a couple of years or more, the queen will start to lay eggs that will turn into winged males, and later on, when the colony resources are plentiful, large winged queens will appear, and the whole cycle is started again.
© Alex Wild