8 replies to this topic

[PwnerPie]

Hi all,

This is by far the biggest larva I have ever seen. The colony has a few other majors, and the total size of the colony is ~30 so I doubt it is an alate. Any ideas? It is at 10mm when curled (over half the size of the queen) and looks bigger by the day.

 

 

[CampoKing]

Pretty sure that'll just be a medium worker larvae.  They have a way of looking huge when all you've seen so far is minor workers

 

I thought my own mediums were majors in this earlier post: http://www.formicult...-beastly-larvae

Too lazy to update it though

Edited by CampoKing, February 17 2019 - 4:04 PM.

[PwnerPie]

I did not realize that there were mediums as well. That probably means my previous "majors" were not really majors at all. Interesting! Thank you for the reply. Hopefully this larva does not disappoint!

[Serafine]

Camponotus workers come in all shapes and sizes. My Camponotus barbaricus workers range from 5mm (smallest minims, the average minor is 8-9mm) to 18mm (largest majors).

[drtrmiller]

I'm actually not sure what the definition of term "super major" is, if there is one.  Someone look it up and enlighten us!

 

My guess is that the species that have super majors typically display a size difference of around 5 to 7 times between the smallest and largest worker ants (i.e. 3 mm to 20 mm).

[CampoKing]

I'm actually not sure what the definition of term "super major" is, if there is one.  Someone look it up and enlighten us!

The "standard reference" I have for the rough definition of a super soldier is this article: https://www.nature.c...per-ants-1.9746
I think of it as relative: there are standard soldier castes, then some species have larvae that can develop noticeably larger, becoming the super soldier that is rarely seen

 

Side note: After closely reading the article again, I realized that pet owners using methoprene-based flea treatments should take caution around their ant colonies.  The S enantiomer of methoprene affects larvae development by mimicking the juvenile hormone, which is how the scientist in that article re-created supersoldiers in other Pheidole species.

Edited by CampoKing, February 17 2019 - 6:25 PM.

[PwnerPie]

Ugh. Sadly I report, 7 workers went to town and are eating the larvae. It's about half gone now.

[CampoKing]

Ugh. Sadly I report, 7 workers went to town and are eating the larvae. It's about half gone now.

One of my colonies did the same to a larger larvae. It's probably something common that serves some obscure dietary purpose, but I'll let a scientist explain it sometime

[Macro_Ants]

I’d say they do have super majors. My Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony has lots of the typical majors, 14mm or so. But there’s a few majors that are nearly the queens size around 18mm, except for the extra big gaster.