The Life Cycle of Ants
Ants are colony insects in the same order as wasps and bees--Hymenoptera. They are found in varied ecosystems across the planet, from deserts to the near arctic. Their society consists of "castes," groups that have specialized tasks to ensure the success of the colony.
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Egg
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An ant egg is tiny, only about 1 mm long. The queen ant cares for the first batch of eggs, but once the new adults emerge, they take over nursery duties so the queen can concentrate on laying more eggs.
Larva
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Ant larvae look like worms. They have no legs, no eyes and rely on the worker ants in the colony to feed them. As they grow, they molt, shedding their skin to accommodate their increased size.
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Pupa
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A pupa is the cocoon stage of the ant. The larvae in some species will spin webs around themselves within the colony nest in order to complete their transformation into adults. Other ant species have pupa that are more like soft-bodied adults who simply need a short period of time inside the nest to form their hard outer body shell.
Adult
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An adult ant appears in about six to 10 weeks after the egg is laid. If the egg was fertilized, the adult is a female and will join the colony as a worker or solider ant. Unfertilized eggs become male ants, whose sole purpose is to fertilize more eggs in their short lifetime of about two weeks.
Fun Fact
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Ants in the Amazon have been known to use slave labor by raiding the nests of other ant species to capture the pupa, who then emerge from their cocoons in the interloper's nest willing to work for the new colony. In some cases, the raiders become so dependent on slaves that they will starve without them.
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