Egg size

The length of an egg is 1.49±0.12 (range 1.12 - 1.85) mm [1]. The width of an egg is 0.35±0.02 (range 0.30 - 0.40) mm [1]. The volume of an egg is 0.10±0.02 (range 0.06 - 0.15) cubic mm [1]. Size of eggs varies markedly [2][3][4][5]. It changes with age, first it decrease but immediately before hatching of larvae it increases [1]. Size of eggs differs between subspecies and between queens of the same subspecies [6][1][7]. Eggs of laying workers have different shape and are more variable in size than eggs of queens [8]. Fertilized and unfertilized eggs do not differ in size [9][7].
The weight of an egg is ranges from 0.12 to 0.22 mg [6]. Weight of egg decreases about 30% during its incubation [10][1]. The egg weight is in part determined genetically [6][11].

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