The queens messor barbarus and his family
Throughout my life I have seen groups of large ants with wings several times. They told me they went out after raining.
The winged ants of my childhood
I thought it was a special breed of ants; but no, they were queens looking for a boyfriend. The males had left before, from different anthills, and were waiting for their future bride. The queens arrived, attracted by the scent of the males, they chose a mate, and after the wedding the male died and the queen tore off her wings and went out in search of a hole that was wet and soft enough to lay her eggs.
This is the family of messor barbarus ants, one of the common species in Spain.
The family of messor barbarus ants (the winged daughters remain to be drawn, which would be like the father or the mother)
The father, who died with his wings on and whom his daughters will never meet. The queen mother, now wingless, who locked herself up forever with the sole purpose of laying eggs. The first daughters, some very small minors, began to be born 2 or 3 months after the wedding, they are dedicated to the care of the eggs and larvae, they are the "nurse" and their life is very short. Over time many more "minor" and "medium" are born.
After about 2 or 3 years the "major" begin to be born, with a huge head and a lot of strength in their jaws.
How was the life of my queen Lola Cleopatra before meeting her?
It was the end of September, it had rained for two days in a row, but today it was sunny and very little wind.
My queen, Lola Cleopatra, prepared to take flight along with many of her winged sisters, they knew they had little chance of surviving, that's why they all came out together, the abundant ant eaters (birds, lizards, toads, even other ants) maybe they got fed up and so some of them would survive.
After the wedding flight, Lola Cleopatra hurried to tear off her wings, she was already too clumsy walking to have to wear her wings on top of that, or she would find a hole soon or she was lost. That is why she did not object to entering the tube that the queen hunter presented to her.
The queen hunter
Here you can see what the plastic tube that is used as a house for queen ants is like. Half or more is filled with water. A piece of cotton separates the water from the space where the queen is located and another piece of cotton closes the entrance to the tube.
The queen in the test tube
Although the space seems very small to you, queens are terribly scared and prefer to be in as small places as possible. So that they are less scared, the tube is wrapped in opaque paper and placed with a clip so that it does not roll.
From September to January-February Lola Cleopatra only ate a little water with honey and the reserves she had. In January she laid her first eggs and in July, when I received her, about 15 nurses had already hatched and she had eggs and larvae.
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