Ant queens’ egg laying rate increases with age

Washington: Ant queens lay more eggs as they get older, researchers have found.

Furthermore, this high egg-laying rate did not shorten the queens’ life spans, as would have been expected based on many other organisms.

The researchers, led by Juergen Heinze at the University of Regensburg in Germany, found that the egg laying rates of ant queens from the species Cardiocondyla obscurior steadily increased as the queens aged, unlike the many organisms (including humans) for which reproductive performance decreases with age.

Other animals that show increased reproduction with age include corals, sturgeons, and box turtles.

The finding was reported in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

ANI