I think many worker ants live two years or more, a queen can live 15-30 years, depending on species and luck. The difference in the contact between ants and be

I think many worker ants live two years or more, a queen can live 15-30 years, depending on species and luck. The difference in the contact between ants and between neurons is that it's not the same ants that contact each other. A larger pool of workers also means the colony is less likely to suffer catastrophic setbacks. For example when they send a good portion of the pool to a promising food source and then those get washed away, fall prey or whatever.