Do Queen Ants Have Wings?

Do Ants have wings?

Do queen ants have wings? most ant colonies can have one too many queen ants. A queen ant in a colony tends to not have her wings. This is because when she was a young princess she was apart of another colony. During this time she would have had a nuptial flight where she will leave the colony to mate with a male ant. The male ant sadly dies after mating with the new queen.

Once the queen ant has successfully mated with the male she then starts looking for somewhere to start her very own ant colony. When the queen ant has found the place she would like to start her new colony. She will then remove her own wings and eat them as protein. This is so she has enough proteins to lay eggs and to survive the hibernation (winter season) as most ants mate at the end of summer. Consuming her wings allows the queen ant to go months without food. Up until her first worker ants arrive which will provide her with food.

Queen ant still has wings? – Do Queen Ants Have Wings?

On rare occasions sometimes the queen has enough proteins without having to consume her wings. This can happen in the wild but is pretty rare. If you keep ants in captivity like me. You will find when you capture some queen ants they still have their wings. I have had queen ants that have kept their wings and raised their very own ant colony. I am not sure why this is. My guess is they have enough proteins to get them by until the worker ants arrive.

So, ladies and gentlemen, it seems that do queen ants have wings?. it could be 50/50 you get queens that still have wings and you get queens that don’t have any wings. It all really depends on if they need that extra bit of protein for egg laying or hibernation.

AntManUK