The ant life cycle

All ants go through the same process to reach adult hood, this is known as the ant life cycle.

A colonies young is commonly known as the brood.

The ant life cycle is a form of metamorphosis, it is the same process a caterpillar uses to change into a butterfly.

The life cycle process can take any where from a few weeks to up to a year to complete. This is dependant on surrounding temperatures, humidity and food available. In mature colonies, the brood are moved around the nest in order for them to be at optimum growing temperatures.

Select a stage of the life cycle below to find out more…

nuptial-flight

ant-eggs
ant-larvae
ant-pupae
adult-ants

All ants are all born of their queen accept for a few rare cases, one being when workers are brought up in the absence of a queen, they can give birth to drone.