kashmir79: What determines a Major and a Minor ? (23. Okt 2007 10:00)

heya

i was just wondering what determines and egg/larvae to become a major or a worker when they hatch ?

well fed makes them much bigger ?

thanks

Purifier: (23. Okt 2007 11:37)

Dont really know, but i could imagine that the queen handle this and control it when she lay the eggs....

kashmir79: (23. Okt 2007 13:33)

Ihope my queen decides to lay some majors in spring, she has 11 workers with her lol :D

Sphecomyrmex: (23. Okt 2007 16:51)

Hello Kashmir,
I found an article on magazine "Le Scienze" (number 467, july 2007), italian edition of "Scientific American", who brings an research effected from William O. H. Hughes, of the Leeds University, Greath Britain, on a Acromyrmex echinatior colony. It's difficult to traslate the research from italian to English: finally the research shows that formation of major and minor workers depends from nutrition of larvae, and not from genetic factors.
Queens decides (using pheromones) only the formation of worker or other queens, and not of minor or major workers, during the eggs-laying

Regards

kashmir79: (23. Okt 2007 18:19)

ooo thanks alot, makes sense now :) :D

JimmyVe: (23. Okt 2007 18:38)

in deed, it depends on what they are fed in the larva stadium.

Purifier: (23. Okt 2007 18:42)

Do you mean the kind of the feed or the volume of the feed? Because i thinking all the time the workers give the larva's only proteins and nothing else....

JimmyVe: (23. Okt 2007 18:50)

That i'm not sure about ( ;) ) i read it somewhere myself, it depends on what they feed the larva but they did not say how much ore which kind.

Sphecomyrmex: (23. Okt 2007 19:56)

I think the formation of major or minor worker depend from feed quantity, not from kind of feed; because the research was on Acromyrmex specie: Acromyrmex, like other fungus-growing ant, exclusively feeds mushrooms.

Purifier: (23. Okt 2007 21:44)

Jeah...and others feed only proteins ^^
So i think that its depending on the quantity, too