"Do ants have a queen like bees? Bees have a queen and the worker bees have stripes. Well, I saw an ant today that had a brown stripe. So I think this is a worker ant and it has a queen."Pretty cool thinking for a five year old, although I'm not sure I've ever observed an ant with a brown stripe.
Well, she was right about the Queen part. There is a Queen ant and boy are they interesting.
Did you know?
*The Queen is noticeably larger than the other ants in the colony.
*The Queen has wings that stay on for the "nuptial flight" and then taken off or chewed off by workers. (pretty gross! or cool to others, I guess.) Some choose not to mate and can actually produce on their own- and will have all female offsprings.
*After the Queen finds a nesting area, she actually will seal herself in and never emerge in sunlight again.
I don't think I'd want to be the Queen Ant- wings get chewed, never see sunlight, and only use is to reproduce- no leadership involved for this Queen!
Sunshine was curious about Mom's breasts!
"Are you sure they don't get milk yet? Well, than why are they growing? Can you please show me that there isn't any milk in there yet?" Continues to bug me!!
Mom- "No!!!!"
I'll just leave it at that! Of course, I explained when it will occur. Boy, she can be persistent.
So there you have it- ants and breasts!
Hope you are enjoying your day!
Take Care!!
Jen
Wow! That's cool that she really observes ants so closely!
ReplyDeleteMy older daughter recently asked, "Mom, how do you know if there's a baby in your tummy?" It made me pause to think, wow, did she think a person might not know at all and then just suddenly have one come right out (she has seen the birth of goats, so she has an idea of what the mother goes through!). I explained as best I could!
Those pesky little ants--they love my kitchen too. Our youngest "loves" them. Or should I say he is enthralled with them. I often refer to his as the little boy from ANT BULLY. If I can't find him one day, I'm going to have to start checking anthills.
ReplyDelete