Muscleman Patch Ant - contrasts in size 3

            Podomyrma adelaidae. On a whim, after weeding at the St Peters Billabong, I turned back to have a look at what my favourite ants were up to. As I approached their arboreal nest entrance I was stunned to see an ant significantly larger than the usual worker castes. On closer inspection It was obviously a dealate, a winged 'queen' that had removed her wings after mating. She wandered around for a while before returning to the nest. Not long after that a large set of mandibles appeared at the nest entrance, however what emerged was not my dealate but an alate, a virgin queen complete with wings no less, but immediately followed by a (the?) dealate. So there at the nest entrance was a winged 'queen' and a wingless 'queen'. Unfortunately my attempt to get close-up shots of the winged wonder appeared to spook her and she returned to the nest. After an hour's vigil hoping in vain for her re-appearance the need for coffee and food drove me home. During the wait I had an opportunity to photograph the wingless one and to ponder what on earth a supposedly mated dealated queen was doing wandering around an established nest. Note the hugely muscled thorax (required to power the wings) on the two queens compared to the slender thorax of the workers. 

A nice contrast in size between the head of the huge dealated 'queen' returning to the nest and the very much smaller minor worker bringing waste material to the surface. The three simple eyes (called ocelli and common to many flying insects) are very evident on the head of the queen. Their function in ants is apparently not fully understood and they may be vestigial.

Taken on: November 22, 2022

Tags:

South Australia

Greg Coote

Billabong

St Peters

Muscleman Patch Ant

Muscle Man Tree Ant

Podomyrma adelaidae

ant

dealate

ant queen « less

Sets appears in: • Muscleman Patch Ants • The Billabong more » • Ants « less

Camera: Panasonic DC-TZ95, f/3.3, 1/320 sec, 4.3mm, ISO 320 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DC-TZ95
Aperture:	f/3.3
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	4.3mm
ISO:	320
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Shutter speed priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384
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