Eduardo Fox :
A central fact about socialHymenoptera(wasps , ants ) that most mass , include entomologist , are unaware of : They can not live without their larvae .
Next clock time you see an ant ’s nest , a bee hive , or a hornet ’s nest , commend : That structure is essentially a neonatal ICU !
Why ? take care at an ant ’s body below :
Did you observe the waist ? I state you : The individual ’s stomach is locatedafterthe thin shank . That intend an pismire can not eat solids .
Now , take a look at an ant ’s larva ( a & b , below ):
Notice the waistline ? There ’s none . It means larvae eat solid food !
So , this is what happens : Ants are working heavily together in that nest mainly to take up hundreds of babies . They come out to get food and bring it back to the nest , then they chew it up and place it on their larva . Larvae will swallow and concentrate the food for thought for them . peculiarly protein . Larvae secrete nutrient - racy liquids back to the ants , which is their chief source of aminic acids and fatty acids .
Who lays eggs to produce larvae ? Queens . *
What happens when queens go ? No egg , hence no larva .
What happens when there are no larvae ? forged nutrition , in the end no reason for the nest . emmet gradually get disorganise , and after a few week they die .
Wasps and more " primitive " ants can more easy bring on a new poove who will be the next mated female in the hierarchy . However , if none of them is fat enough and pair , the nest wo n’t last long . Bees work otherwise .
- Important technical notice : Queens normally survive longer than worker . Nowhere in this answer did I mean to inculpate that larvae can somehow enable workers to live as long as poof !
This berth originally appeared on Quora . Clickhereto survey .
