Reproduction
There are many different kinds of ants in this world and each
has different ways of reproducing. Reproduction in ants
can be compared by how many queens head the colony, worker
reproduction, and the mating frequency of that queen. Ants
have been known to reproduce both sexually and asexually.
This makes it very easy for ants to reproduce in large numbers.
They produce worker ants, and if needed, another queen ant
(Leniaud et al. 2011). Ants are constantly communicating
with one another to keep the colony thriving (Leniaud et al.
2011). If the colony is struggling, they will reproduce
when needed (Leniaud et al. 2011).
Cataglyphis bombycina reproduce in a very special way.
They have a Monogyny colony, a colony consisting of only one
queen (Leniaud et al. 2011). This one queen is responsible
for reproducing and running the colony. In the colony,
there are even workers that can reproduce also (Leniaud et al.
2011). Primarily, the
workers are not able to reproduce, but in the right conditions
the worker ants take on a queen-like role to reproduce (Leniaud
et al. 2011).
They will produce diploid eggs through Thelytoky, a type of
Parthenogenesis (Leniaud et al. 2011). The offspring will either become a worker
or a queen. This is a great way for the colony to
still survive if the queen dies off or goes missing.
Many colonies are
run by worker produced queens because the queen's life span is
very short (Lenoir et al. 2010). Thelytokous
Parthenogenesis is only used when it is really needed.
Since the colony is Monogyny, they only need one queen;
therefore, producing more than one queen through Thelytokous
Parthenogenesis would be unnecessary.
Having a Monogyny colony means that the males can only reproduce
once with the female, but the female will reproduce with all of
the males. The queen will mate with up to 14 males (Lenoir
et al. 2010). The queen wants to mate with as many males
as she can to keep the colony alive and going.
Even though C. bombycina do not need mating in order to
create diploid offspring, they have retained sexual reproduction
to produce worker ants. By combining sexual and asexual
reproduction, queens have increased the spreading of their
genes while still keeping the
genetic diversity in the worker ants (Lenoir et al. 2010).
C. bombycina has adapted to its own
habitat, not only through their
behavior, but through their reproduction, as well. The
environment they live in is very dangerous. They have adapted to
this by the Monogyny colony, and the possible reproduction of
worker ants.
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