eli5 How does Queen Ants get so big? Do they just live longer? Is it that royalty bloodline? She just eat a lot more?
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Am also no expert, but … what we understand as “hereditary traits” (your Dad’s eye color, your grandmother’s skin tone, etc.) are a type of genetic inheritance called “genetic polymorphism.” All species have this, but it’s not the only way traits exhibit within a species. Many species of insects (including ants and bees) have another type called “genetic polypheniesm,” which – simply put – means that several subspecies are defined within the same genetic sequence. These subspecies traits are dormant and idle in 99.99% of the members of the species, and are activated by environmental stresses that affect the entire colony. For example: when a Queen Ant dies, the stress of that loss causes the subspecies activation in another *otherwise normal* ant who then becomes the queen.
The little I understand is honestly pretty cool. Corrections invited.
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