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Photo Gallery - The ant life cycle
Complete metamorphosis: Ants pass through egg, larva, and pupa
stages on their way to adulthood. - © Alex Wild
Sometimes, like when the colony is just getting started, queens
lay eggs called “trophic” eggs. Delicious and nutritious, workers
and developing larvae eat trophic eggs and use that energy to
help the colony grow. Occasionally, workers lay eggs, but queens
and other workers sniff about the nest and gobble those eggs as
soon as they find them, no bacon needed.
Larvae
The only time an ant grows is when it’s in the larval stage. Most
larvae look like wrinkly grains of rice or chubby little maggots. Fat,
pearlescent white tubes with plump folds and wormy mouths, ant
larvae are the chicken nuggets of the insect world. When colonies
get assaulted by other ants or insects, these little chub monsters
are usually the first to go. Because they have no legs, they can’t
run away, and they make easy meals for anyone able to break
into the nest.
Unable to feed themselves, larvae sit like baby birds with their
little mouths open, begging for workers to spit food down their
gullets. When workers give larvae special food at just the right
time, their body chemistries change and they grow up to be
queens.
As larvae grow, their skin gets tight on their bodies. Like an old
pair of blue jeans, they wiggle out of the tight skin, revealing a
brand new, bigger skin underneath. Never wasting the chance for
a snack, workers scarf down those discarded larvae skins when
they find them.
If you look at older larvae under a microscope, you’ll see sparse
hairs jutting out of their supple flesh. I know a scientist who
wanted to find out why they have these luxurious locks, so he
gave larvae haircuts and watched what happened. The verdict?
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