Queen ant reproducing ants or "flying ants" will leave their parent nest and take flight. The mating flights occur simultaneously in all ant nests of the particular species. The female "queen" ants will fly a long distance, during which they will mate with at least one winged male from another nest. He transfers sperm to the seminal receptacle of the queen and then dies. Once mated, the "queen" will attempt to find a suitable area to start a colony and, once found will detach her wings. The term "queen" is not particularly apt, as the queen ant has very little control over
Tupolev ANT-8 Tupolev ANT-8 The ANT-8 was an experimental flying boat designed by Tupolev. It was designated the "MDR-2" (MDR meaning "Morskoi Dalnii Razvedchik", or Naval Long-Range Reconnaissance) by the military. Tupolev and the TsAGI were asked to build the ANT-8 in 1925, but other projects were deemed more important. Thus, little was completed on the ANT-8. Finally, in 1930, with Ivan Pogosski leading, actual work was started on the aircraft. Its first flight was on January 30, 1931, piloted by S. Riballschuk. It is important to note that shortly after the ANT-8 flew for the first time, the ANT-14 lifted off