queen ant
Egg-laying ruler
A queen ant is the reproductive female in an ant colony—typically the only member that lays eggs.
She is usually larger than workers and may live for decades, far outlasting other colony members.
Most queens mate once early in life, storing sperm to fertilize eggs for years.
The queen ant rarely leaves the nest after establishing her colony.
- colonyDependent territorial settlement
- worker antsColony's laboring caste
- abdomenTorso's lower cavity
- mandiblesPaired arthropod mouthparts
- thoraxCentral body cavity
foundress · insect · wings · egg-laying · caste system · polygyny · foraging · social insects · anthill · ovipositor · genetic lineage · royal · swarm · eggs · mating ritual · brood · burrow · chamber
- antsworker ants, soldier ants, fire ants, carpenter ants, army ants
- ant coloniescolony, nest, anthill, mound, caste
- ant colonyworker ants, workers, soldiers, nest, colony
- insect castesworker bee, drone bee, worker, drones, soldier
- bugsbeetle, cricket, bug, firefly, cockroach
- ant farmtunnels, sand, gel, worker ants, glass panels