The Queen is the only female within a colony of social insects that can reproduce. Social insects include bees, wasps, ants and termites.
The Queen lays eggs which are then nurtured by the other members of the colony. In some of the more loose colonies there may be more than one queen. In eusocial colonies there is usually only one reproductive individual. The Queen lays eggs and also produces chemicals which can control the rest of the colony and suppress the reproductive potential of other females within the colony.
A photograph of workers clustering around a queen Africanised honey bee.
Photograph by United States Federal Government.
Other names for (or types of) Queen include:
- Female reproductive
- Africanised honey bees
- Bee bread
- Flying ant day
- Honey bee
- Nuptial flight
- Queen cell
- Queen excluder
- Queen substance
- Royal jelly
Related pages on this web site
- Aculeate hymenoptera
- Bees and Beekeeping: From simple bee-ginnings
- Bees, Wasps and Ants - Order Hymenoptera
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