Ant Nests
Ants live in colonies in a nest. During the cool Winter months Ants are dormant and sleep in the nest. As the weather warms up the Ants become active and leave the nest searching for food.
An Ant nest is made up of many chambers
Who is in the nest?
Queen Ant: Each nest must have a Queen Ant to survive. The Queen Ant is much bigger than both the Worker Ants and the Male Ants. Her job is lay as many Eggs as the Worker Ants can manage. Queen Ants have a long life and live for about 10 to 15 years.
Worker Ants: The majority of Ants in the colony are Worker Ants. Worker Ants are females but they cannot lay eggs. As the name suggests Worker Ants do all the work around the nest. They look after the other Ants, eggs and larvae, as well as keep the nest tidy and build new extensions as required. Worker Ants live for about 5 years.
Male Ants: During the summer the Queen Ant lays special eggs that do not hatch into Worker Ants but into Male Ants. At this time she also lays new Queen eggs. Their job is to mate with a new Queen. After which they die. Male Ants have a relatively short life and live for only a few months.
Eggs: New eggs are laid regularly by the Queen Ant.
Larvae and Pupae: There is usually as many of these as there are eggs. Refer to the Ant Lifecycles for more details on larvae and pupae.
How a new nest begins
In the Summer you may see swarms of flying Ants about. These are winged fertile adults, both male and female. This mass exodus from the nest is triggered by warm humid weather. After mating the males die and the pregnant females will become the new Queen Ants. They leave their original nest in search of suitable sites in which to establish a new nest.
The Queen Ant lays a few eggs in soft soil which she rears herself. These are her first Worker Ants and will help run the nest once mature.