Ants undergo complete metamorphosis, passing through egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages.

Larvae are immobile, wormlike, and don’t resemble adults. Ants, like many other hymenopterans such as bees and wasps, are social insects with duties divided among different types, or castes, of adults.

Queens conduct the reproductive functions of a colony and are larger than other ants; they lay eggs and sometimes participate in feeding and grooming larvae. The sterile female workers gather food, feed and care for larvae, build tunnels, and defend the colony; these workers make up the bulk of the colony. Males don’t participate in colony activities; their sole purpose is to mate with the queens. Workers feed and care for males, which are few in number.

Ants usually nest in soil; nest sites vary with species but are often found next to buildings, along sidewalks, or in close proximity to food sources such as trees or plants that harbor honeydew-producing insects. Ants also construct nests under boards, stones, tree stumps, or plants and sometimes under buildings or other protected places. The primary ant that nests indoors is the Pharaoh ant. In temperate climates, this species nests in warm, moist locations such as inside wall voids, under flooring, or near hot water pipes or heating systems. Food preferences vary among ant species but may include fruits, seeds, nuts, fatty substances, dead or live insects, dead animals, and sweets and baking ingredients & leftovers.

Ants often enter buildings seeking food and water, warmth and shelter, or refuge from dry, hot weather or flooded conditions. They may appear suddenly in buildings if other food sources become unavailable or weather conditions change.

Although there is some variation among species, a single newly mated queen typically establishes a new colony. After weeks or months of confinement underground, she lays her first eggs. After the eggs hatch, she feeds the white, legless larvae with her own metabolized wing muscles and fat bodies until the larvae pupate. Several weeks later, the pupae transform into sterile female adult workers, and the first workers dig their way out of the nest to collect food for themselves, the queen (who continues to lay eggs), and subsequent broods of larvae. As numbers increase, workers add new chambers and galleries to the nest.