What is the largest ant, and how much does it weigh?

zbeckabee

The largest ant type is the soldier which may weigh 300 times more than the next largest ant type, the forager. At the bottom of the size scale is a tiny ant type whose function is to ride atop the leaves as they are carried by the foragers, and keep a watch out for species of flies that lay their eggs on the leafcutters' leaves. When the larvae of this fly hatch, they can decimate the entire colony. http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0509.htm Dec 18 08, 6:23 AM

BRY2K

I think zbeckabee is quite correct. Prior to this species being named the largest ant I would submit that Formicium giganteum was a contender. These Eocene giants are the largest ants ever found. They are incredibly well preserved showing that they did not have a sting, and must have sprayed formic acid as a defence. They also had no closing mechanism on their crop -which stores food - and so must have eaten fresh food. Here are some related stats: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/436.shtml (For the record, my Aunt Betty was 375 lbs. but that is a whole other issue) Dec 18 08, 9:28 AM

queproblema

Zb, I don't see where that image is identified as a soldier ant. It looks like what I call a conga ant. The only pictures of the conga ant I can find online are a skinnier kind. The claim of being over 2 cm long is not exaggerated. http://www.earlham.edu/~royseel/congaantpage.htm I was stung by one once and it put me down for several hours. But it was the fatter kind, if I remember correctly. Possibly the right answer is "conga soldier." Wiki says ants of the same species are variously workers, soldiers, drones, or queens. Quote: In the colonies of a few ant species, there are physical castes—workers in distinct size-classes, called minor, median, and major workers. Often the larger ants have disproportionately larger heads, and correspondingly stronger mandibles. Such individuals are sometimes called "soldier" ants because their stronger mandibles make them more effective in fighting, although they are still workers and their "duties" typically do not vary greatly from the minor or median workers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant Dec 18 08, 7:57 PM

zbeckabee

Here's the soldier ants: http://www.richard-seaman.com/Insects/CostaRica/PhotoGalleries/index.html Dec 18 08, 8:24 PM

queproblema

The soldier ant is one of the four castes: A mature leafcutter colony can contain more than 8 million ants, mostly sterile female workers. They are divided into castes, based mostly on size, ....minims, minors, mediae and majors. Majors are also known as soldiers or dinergates. ... * Minims are the smallest workers, and tend to the growing brood or care for the fungus gardens. Head width is less than 1 mm. * Minors are slightly larger minima workers .... Headwidth are around 1.8-2.2 mm * Mediae are the generalized foragers, who cut leaves and bring the leaf fragments back to the nest. * Majors are the largest worker ants and act as soldiers, ..... The largest soldiers (Atta laevigata) may have total body lengths up to 16 mm and head widths of 7 mm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leafcutter_ant Your first link mentions the 24-hour ant, which is another name for the conga. I have no Aunt Betty, but I did have a large-sized Great-A[u]nt Pearl, who had a small-sized husband, Blossom. That's what was on his birth certificate and what everybody called him. They were Vermont dairymen--sounds like a better name for a cow to me. Dec 18 08, 10:02 PM

zbeckabee

Aunt Pearl and Uncle Blossom? Dec 18 08, 11:08 PM

queproblema

Really and truly. Dec 18 08, 11:09 PM

queproblema

Two more contenders: An Asian giant called Camponotus gigas, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camponotus_gigas and the famous ant, often chocolate-covered, from Santander, Colombia--the "hormiga culona," or Atta laevigata. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/08/14/ants_ani.html?category=animals&guid=20060814113000 Dec 21 08, 1:20 PM