Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Because ant queens mate only at the beginning of their reproductive lives and draw on this stored sperm for every female produced, the sperm content of the queen's spermatheca declines with age. The potential reproductive life of queens of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, was estimated in the field by determining the spermathecal sperm content of queens from colonies of increasing ages, and extrapolating their declining sperm counts to zero. Estimated potential life span was 6.77 yr for Tallahassee, Fla., ants and 5.83 yr for Gainesville, Fla., ants. These methods may have general utility in studying the demography of social Hymenoptera.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Wälter R. Tschinkel (1987) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: