What is a marriage flight? On a sunny hot, humid summer day, you might see swarms of winged insects. What are they? Why are they swarming?
They are just ordinary ants that sprout wings - winged male and female ants on their mating journey. Thousands take to the sky, on their once-in-a-life-time journey. They need to find a mate. The “bride” female ant wears wings instead of a veil, and she is off to start a new home.
The swarm, or group, gives the ants protection and a better chance of finding a mate. Once the males and females mate, they fall to the ground, and the males die.
The female rubs off her wings and begins to dig a burrow or tunnel for a home. At the end of the tunnel, she makes a chamber or room, closes off the opening, and begins to lay eggs. She uses the fat from her body and her wing muscles for food.
When the eggs hatch, the female feeds the grubs, or babies, with food from her body. The babies grow and require more food. Even though she is starving, she must keep feeding, for if she dies, the grubs all die. Soon the grubs spin cocoons and lie “sleeping” for up to ten months. This female becomes the queen of her new colony.
The first grubs to hatch are small, stunted females. They immediately set about their work, opening the burrow and making their way out to look for food. They will bring back tiny insects and begin feeding the exhausted queen. The queen must now lay more eggs, but she does nothing else.
“Whew! I am finished looking after all those babies. Workers can now take over.”
For the rest of her lifetime, up to ten years, the queen will lay eggs every day. The colony could increase to thousands. The workers will continually feed her, groom her, and look after her. She does live “the life of a queen!”
For the rest of their lives, the workers look after the eggs. They care for the young, gather food, and feed all the ants in the nest. When the nest needs enlarging, they do that, too. Another job is keeping the nest clean.
This cycle goes on for all ants, whether they live in the Arctic, desert, tropical forests, mountains, seashore, or your backyard.
One day, some new queens will hatch, and on a sunny summer day, they will leave the nest for their own “marriage flight” as they head out to start their own new life in their new home.
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