Nuptial Flight and Mating

• June after heavy rainfall - sky fills with flying fire ants (Solenopsis Invicta)
• Thousands of reproductive males/females (alates) take wing for first/last time
• Males die after mating, even if avoiding winged predators
• Successfully mated females secure lifetime sperm supply from departed mates

Queen Colony Foundation

• New queen searches for suitable nesting spot
  • Prefers loose, easy-to-dig soil
  • Farmland disturbed by human activity ideal
• Breaks off wings creating royal status stubs
• Digs descending tunnel ending in chamber
• Begins laying ~10 eggs per day
• First larvae hatch within 1 week

Early Colony Development

• Queen relies on unfertilized eggs to nourish herself and brood
• Loses half body weight over 3 weeks
• After ~20 days, larvae become first generation workers
• Workers forage for food and sustain shrunken queen

Brood Raiding Wars

• Dozens of neighboring queens build competing colonies
• Initial peaceful coexistence ends when workers appear
• Brood raiding begins - workers steal offspring from nests several meters away
• Colony retaliates but overwhelmed by raiders
• Raiders take entire brood supply to largest nearby nest
• Surviving daughters abandon queen

Queen's Survival Battle

• Queen follows raiding trail to winning nest
• Fends off other losing queens and defending workers
• Fights to top of brood pile with daughters' help
• Defeats reigning monarch, usurps brood pile
• Remaining challengers fail until only one queen/brood pile remains
• Victorious queen presides over several hundred workers in largest nest

Mature Colony Operations

• Primary goal: reproduction
• First several years: only produces sterile workers
• Population threshold: 23,000 workers triggers reproductive phase
• Spring production: fertile alates (males/females)
• Larger ants spawned throughout early summer
• Returns to worker production in fall
• Alates spread queen's genes up to couple hundred meters downwind

Colony Organization and Survival

• Functions as massive super organism
• Daily operations:
  • Younger ants feed queen and tend brood
  • Older workers forage for food and defend nest
  • Warriors use poisonous venom against intruders
• After rainfall: colony uses wet dirt to expand nest
• Flood survival: sisters form massive living raft carrying queen to safety

Colony Death

• After ~8 years: queen runs out of sperm
• Cannot replace dying workers
• Nest population dwindles
• Eventually taken over by neighboring colony
• Queen's reign ends but genetic legacy continues