Graphic showing the early nanitic is 1/3 the length of the queen. The later nanitic is a little bigger. The nanitics are darker than the "typical worker" because they are older and exoskeletons darken with age. The typical worker it about half as long as the queen and has a much wider head and more substantial mandibles.

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   myrmepropagandist (futurebird@sauropods.win)'s status on Sunday, 21-Jul-2024 22:37:35 JST myrmepropagandist

   in reply to

   Lasius brunneus are little brown garden ants that are not thought of as "having castes" ... most ant guides will describe all their workers as "all the same size."

   However, these photos from antiwiki show a size difference in workers of a mature colony vs. nanitic workers. The nanitic workers are small since their nutrition must come in its entirety from the body of the queen!

   Do you have enough mass in your body to make three or four people to help you out?

   I don't!

   https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Lasius_brunneus