CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How do ants reproduce?

When ants establish a colony, it also starts with the two sexes getting to know each other through mating flights. They fall in love at first sight after meeting each other, and mate during or after the flight. The "bridegroom" does not live long, and dies soon after mating, leaving the "widow" queen ant to live a lonely life alone. The queen ant takes off her wings and chooses suitable soil and places to build a nest underground. She is "alone" and has limited strength, so she can only temporarily build a small room as a place to stay and a delivery room for her "pregnant" body. After the eggs in her body mature and are produced, the small larvae hatch and are born, and the queen ant becomes busy. She feeds each young ant mouth to mouth until these young ants grow up to become adults and can live independently. When the first batch of worker ants grow up, they dig holes leading to the outside world to find food, and then expand the building area of ​​the nest to provide housing for more and more family members. From then on, the queen ant, who has suffered hardships, enjoys a good life and becomes the commander of this large family. The work of raising young ants and feeding the queen ant is undertaken by worker ants. But the queen ant must continue to mate and produce fertilized eggs to reproduce the large family. Her life span can be as long as 15 years. Ant nests come in various forms. Most species build nests in the underground soil, digging tunnels, small chambers and residences, and piling the excavated materials and leaves near the entrance to form a small hillock for protection. Some ants also use plant leaves, stems, petioles, etc. to build paper-like nests and hang them on trees or between rocks. Other ants live in rotten wood in forest areas. What is more special is that some ants build their nests in or next to the nests of other species of ants; and the two "families" do not have disputes and can live in harmony. This kind of ant nest is called a mixed ant nest, which is actually a coexistence of different species. Whether it is different ants or the same species of ants, the number of ants in a nest can vary greatly. The smallest group has only dozens or nearly a hundred ants, and some have thousands of ants, while large groups can have tens of thousands or even more ants.